Congress plans major rejig after election debacle

New Delhi: After its drubbing in the Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the Congress is planning a major rejig. There have been many voices from within the grand old party saying that the current system will certainly not work. Even Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said that “structural changes” were the need of the hour for the party. Several suggestions and proposals are in the pipeline, but the question is when they will be acted upon.

According to sources, a decision on the impending changes in the party organisation can come into effect as soon as early April. Currently, both Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi are abroad for the former’s medical checkup. They will return by the end of the coming week.

The change in the AICC setup is long pending, with at least three general secretaries expected to be changed. The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the apex decision making body of the party, will also have new members inducted into it, while some would be eased out. This time, the rejig will not be restricted to the central organisations. Several state unit chiefs are also expected to be replaced. A lot of emphasis will also be given to states going to polls in the next two years.

The other idea which the Congress is working on is having a “core group”, which was in place during the UPA government, to decide on the short-term policies of the party. The ideas which are being worked upon are not new for the Congress, but it is the implementation which everybody is waiting for. The Congress has not seen a single win in any election in the last four years except in Punjab. This win is being attributed to Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh rather than the Congress as a party. With just a little more than two years left for the 2019 general elections, many in the Congress feel that if tough decisions are not taken soon enough, it will be too late.