Congress to send AICC observers across Bengal to review party organisation

Kolkata: The Congress high command has decided to strengthen its organisational focus on West Bengal and will soon send a team of AICC observers to all organisational districts in the state to assess the party's grassroots structure, a senior leader of the party said on Monday.

The All India Congress Committee (AICC) observers will visit each of the 32 organisational districts and hold discussions with district leaders and committee members to understand the ground situation. Their reports are likely to be used while appointing district Congress presidents, he said.

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"The AICC wants to get direct feedback from the districts before taking organisational decisions. There have been complaints in the past that the choice of district presidents depended too much on the preferences of the state leadership. This exercise is meant to make the process more transparent," a senior Congress leader told PTI.

He said that the party could appoint one observer for each organisational district, and the list may be announced by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.

Senior state Congress leaders said such a large-scale exercise by the AICC before selecting district presidents is rare and reflects the importance the party's central leadership attaches to West Bengal.

The organisational exercise comes after changes made by the AICC following the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections.

Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal had visited Kolkata after the polls and held discussions with the state leadership.

Soon afterwards, the party replaced Gulam Mir with Uttarakhand leader Prakash Joshi as AICC in-charge for West Bengal.

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Joshi began his first round of meetings with the state Congress leadership on Monday. The meetings will continue on Tuesday.

Ahead of the discussions, district leaders have been asked to submit information under a 10-point organisational agenda.

One of the key instructions is to prepare a list of all leaders and workers who joined the Congress after the Assembly election results. The details sought include the party they came from, their political background, age and whether they have been given any organisational responsibility after joining the Congress.

"The new in-charge wants complete information about the organisation. He wants details of all those who have joined the party recently, as well as the existing organisational structure, before any major decisions are taken," another senior Congress leader said.

The AICC has also sought lists of district office-bearers, block presidents, district office-bearers of frontal organisations, details of municipalities and municipal corporations under each organisational district and the names of Congress candidates who contested the 2026 Assembly elections.

Venugopal had earlier told state leaders that the Congress should welcome leaders willing to join from other political parties, including the Trinamool Congress, but should not admit those facing charges of corruption or criminal activities, party sources said.

Several leaders have joined the Congress in different districts in recent weeks, and the new AICC in-charge is expected to review the details of all the new entrants as part of the ongoing organisational exercise.