Congress seems to have failed to take lessons even after witnessing almost a total rout in last Assembly elections just due to weak organisation in the State. In the on-going Parliament elections, when Rahul Gandhi, who is vice president of All India Congress Committee and number two in the Party, laid stress just to concentrate on strengthening the Organisation as it would help them to transform support to the Party into votes, even the State president, Nirmal Khatri left the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee office just as he wanted to ensure his own victory.
Rahul Gandhi’s all out efforts of ensuring one of the strongest ground-root level Organisation in the biggest state of the nation which had maximum 80 Parliament seats, seems to remain a dream just as none of the Congress leaders is reportedly interested to spare time to establish the Party’s base and is more keen to somehow get ticket and contest elections. Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who was one of the most active state president and gets credit of bringing almost dead Congress in the fore front when she took road on all the major issues against then Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government and people started taking the Party as the main opponent at least on roads. In the last Parliament elections, Rita showed her interest to contest elections but luckily, the Party gave her ticket from lucknow, which enables her to give some time to the Organisation. Though Rita lost the poll but under her leadership, Congress made a come back in UP by getting 22 lok Sabha seats.
However, in the Assembly elections in 2012, Rita again went to contest the election which she also won but the Party witnesses worst ever defeat forcing Rita to quit the Presidents’ post.
At that time, Rahul Gandhi attributed the defeat due to weak Organisation, and replaced Rita with Nirmal Khatri, who is MP from Faizabad, and known to be veteran Party leader. Rahul also changed Digvijay Singh, who was incharge of the Party affairs here in UP and made Madhusudan Mistri, as new incharge, giving the duo main task to improve the Organisation. It may be also mentioned here that in 2009 Parliament elections and 2012 Assembly elections, Rahul made it clear that no district president would contest polls still majority of them went ahead to seek the same from the High Command. In the coming Parliament polls also, he made similar directions.
However, besides local incharges, even the State presidents of the Party took more interest in seeking ticket and concentrating on their own fortune than sparing time for the Organisation. Surprisingly, Rahul also facilitate this unhealthy practice by giving ticket to state presidents. Sources said that Nirmal Khatri, who already seems to have made a record in the UPCC for giving minimum time at Mall Avenue based office to improve the Organisation, had immediately left for Faizabad soon after announcement of elections date on Wednesday. He asked his sub-ordinates to look the Party affairs.
``Khatri had never given any time to improve the Organisation here in UP but had almost sub-let the Organisation to his `associates’ to run the Party", alleged a senior Congress leader asking Khatri to come on record and tell the high-command that how much time he had given at UPCC office. ``Even during his tenure as UPCC chief so far since August 2012, Khatri mostly remained in Faizabad during his stay in UP as he just wanted to somehow improve his own fortune and left the future of Congress at mercy of God", the leader alleged adding that if the High Command is really serious on improving the prospect of the Party in UP than they should give charge to some senior leader who is keen to improve the Organisation instead of taking interest to contest polls.