New Delhi: The AICC in charge on Wednesday held workshops across the states to brief local leaders on how to implement the Udaipur declaration which aims at reforming the party. The state conclaves, which will discuss a roadmap to take action on the decisions taken at the Udaipur Chintan Shivir from May 13-15 will continue on Thursday also.
According to party insiders, the key challenge before the central leadership is to implement the decision of having half of all office bearers under 50 years of age. The party has targeted to complete the rollout of the plan over the next three-four months but is facing resistance from the seniors who have been around for decades and are not comfortable with the changes.
At the same time, there are several promising youngsters who have been waiting to get key party roles and need to be roped in now, said party insiders. The changes are important for the grand old party to bring in fresh talent, give it a more youthful look and change the way its functions ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Organisational gaps were identified as one of the reasons behind the party’s poor performance in the five states, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur. Besides, lack of strong connection with the voters was identified as the other key reason for the poll losses, said sources. As part of the exercise to restructure the organization, Uttar Pradesh in charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra reached capital Lucknow for the first time since the recent assembly polls to pep up the party workers.
The grand old party, which could win just 2/403 assembly seats in UP, is trying hard to regroup and motivate the workers, said, party insiders. Of late, the party rank and file in UP had been feeling low as there was no communication from the top on how to move ahead. In neighbouring Uttarakhand, where the Congress could increase its tally from 11 MLAs in 2017 to 18 but could not dislodge the BJP, in charge Devender Yadav assured the state leaders that the exercise was the beginning of a new era for the opposition party.
In Goa too, the opposition party could not dislodge the BJP in the recent assembly polls, in charge Dinesh Gundu Rao held consultations with the new team headed by Amit Patkar on how to change the party structures. In Jharkhand, in-charge Avinash Pande gave a patient hearing to local leaders who are miffed over Congress not getting the Rajya Sabha seat from ally JMM. The local leaders told Pande that the JMM was also trying to take away the grand old party’s urban votes, and the issue must be addressed by the central leadership.
The party is also in the process of sprucing up its communications besides having proper systems to assess current political situations and evaluate the work being done by the party functionaries across the country.
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