The two-day Rajasthan visit of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, which was aimed at getting feedback from the grassroots level workers of the party, was marred by complaints by local leaders against the Congress Government and its Ministers.
On Thursday, Gandhi met different groups of party functionaries from two dozen districts in the capital. He wanted to know from them general feelings of the people about the performance of the Congress Government in the State.
But in these group meetings, participants talked about the arrogant attitude of the Ministers and the performance of the Government.
They even did not spare district party office-bearers when they said they were promoting their family members rather than strengthening the party, according to sources.
Alka Meena made complaints against Karauli district Congress committee president Ramesh Meena that he had made the party his pocket organisation, sources said.
All efforts of Gandhi and Mukul Wasnik, AICC general secretary and in-charge of Rajasthan, to press them to apprise about the party’s prospects in the coming Assembly polls, virtually failed.
Some vocal participants said all the welfare schemes of the Government are only on papers and have failed to benefit the people.
On Wednesday at Bikaner, where Gandhi met party functionaries from 15 districts, was forced to call off “direct dialogue” one and half hour before the scheduled time because he was flooded with charges and counter-charges by the party functionaries.
Tanvir Malwat, who had lost the last Assembly elections, blamed senior local party leader and former Minister BD Kalla for ruining the organisation in the district. Malwat said Kalla was only promoting his relatives at cost of the party organisation.
On his part Gandhi told them that the candidates for the coming Assembly elections would not be decided in Delhi but at the block level and district level Congress committees. He also said the party would announced all of its 200 candidates in July, almost five months before the elections.