New Delhi: The Congress has been actively debating the pros and cons of the party’s revival plan suggested by election manager Prashant Kishor who made a detailed presentation before Sonia Gandhi on April 16. Since then, an entire galaxy of senior Congress leaders has been reviewing Kishor’s plan, which suggests that the grand old party should fight the next Lok Sabha polls on its own in big states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and go in for alliances with the regional players in states like West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
The plan also suggests radical reforms in the organization and in the way the party communicates with the voters. Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had attended the first presentation on April 16 at Sonia Gandhi’s 10 Janpath residence along with senior leaders like Digvijay Singh, Ambika Soni, Ajay Maken and Mallikarjun Kharge.
On Monday, Uttar Pradesh in charge Priyanka Gandhi had reviewed the proposals along with former finance minister P Chidambaram, Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh, senior leader Mukul Wasnik, communications department in charge Randeep Surjewala and general secretary in charge of organization KC Venugopal.
On Tuesday, veteran AK Antony, Madhya Pradesh unit chief Kamal Nath, Digvijay Singh, Ambika Soni, Jairam Ramesh, P Chidambaram, Wasnik, Surjewala and Venugopal again met at Sonia’s residence to further review Kishor’s plan. Party insiders said though Rahul had supported the proposal to go solo in UP and Bihar and forge alliances in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, the party veterans are debating the points related to bringing radical reforms in the organization and restructuring the communications system.
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Party insiders said while a radical restructuring may be possible in a corporate kind of environment. The Congress, a 137- year-old party, had evolved its own internal systems which cannot be changed overnight. Their view is that gradual changes may be more suitable for the grand old party, which has to take along a wide variety of leaders and views.
The communications again have to factor in the political strategies of the leadership and cannot merely function like a corporate plan. Besides adjusting to the revival plans suggested by the election manager, the party high command and the senior leaders also have to take a call on whether to engage Kishor as a professional consultant or induct him in the party.
In case Kishor joins the party, many leaders fear they will lose their pre-eminent position and may not be comfortable with the idea. Party insiders said all these are relevant issues and must be discussed threadbare before taking a decision.
