With five leaders from Uttar Pradesh, besides Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi were accommodated in the Congress Working Committee (CWC) and State Congress president Raj Babbar is looking forward to include majority of youngsters in the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) but the Party is still far behind in the preparation for the coming lok Sabha polls, in comparison to other parties like Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
Sources said that the state of affairs in UP Congress has turned into a mess, with the Party yet to hold meetings for the preparation of lok Sabha polls and senior leaders openly criticising the Congress for the autocratic approach of Raj Babbar. Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accommodated five senior leaders - Pl Punia, RPN Singh, Jitin Prasada, Anugurah Narain Singh and Youth Congress President Keshav Yadav, giving some importance to the State.
But no political activity by the Party has turned the state organisation almost defunct. Besides, bickering within the party rank and file has added more problem for the party in the coming lok Sabha polls. The state president has also been giving a gag order to the new media team not to project any name of the Spokesperson in the media, thus creating more confusion within the rank and file.
A media team member told Pioneer here on Wednesday that such an act of the Party and the state unit will further result in the downfall of the Party. "When BJP has almost taken a lead in the campaign for the lok Sabha, while SP and BSP are also holding meetings and countering the BJP on a day-to-day basis, the Congress is sitting idle on the matter," he said adding that Babbar seams to be following the BSP line who also issue statements in Party’s name or in the name of president, Mayawati.
The media team member, close to several senior AICC leaders, said that it seems that Congress will just contest in two lok Sabha seats of Amethi and Rae Bareli and walk over in remaining 78 lok Sabha seats and could support the SP-BSP candidates. "In 2017, Congress came down to seven Assembly seats from 29 after allying with the SP and now in 2019 polls, the fate could dampen further," the leader said, while adding that the present state unit is run by a coterie for their personal interest in the absence of the state president, who spends most of his time in Mumbai or Delhi. The 14-member media team is being headed by a very junior party leader, which also has created problem.
Meanwhile, a youth leader, who had organised a cycle yatra from lucknow to Delhi on the slogan of 'Kisan Bachao, Rahul Gandhi ko PM Banao,' also expressed ignorance by the state leadership. ``State President Raj Babbar refused to flag off our bicycle rally at first, but later he did it on the orders of the AICC. This shows how the state unit is functioning," a senior party leader opined.