Gujarat Congress goes back to civil society for its revival

GANDHINAGAR: Gujarat Congress seems to be going back to its way of relying on civil society organisations for its revival in Gujarat. On Saturday, the party launched the Gujarat Sangharsh Sena, a apolitical platform for civil society meant to raise its concerns.

The demand for reviving the Shakti Dal, a cadre based outfit that floated and successively dismantled by the incumbent Leader of Opposition Shankarsinh Vaghela had gained currency recently.

The demand resulted in major discomfort for the Congress’ state leadership, with most leaders still licking the wounds of their recent electoral defeat.

Gujarat Congress had relied on civil society organisations to carry out its agenda for a better part of last decade, with very little electoral success. Vaghela’s own experiments of floating Shakti Dal, and later Prabuddha Nagarik Manch, in collaboration with former BJP chief minister Suresh Mehta, failed to gain any relevance in Gujarat’s public discourse.

"This is a well thought-out strategy to bring in together people who have any concern against the current regime, be it issues of farmland or grazing grounds or those of security," said Arjun Modvadia, the president of Gujarat Congress.

"Many people won’t join Congress directly as a political party but still nurse such concerns. This platform will provide them a forum to voice their grievances," Modvadia told ET.

However, a senior Ahmedabad-based activist, known for his proximity to the state Congress leadership and is otherwise not shy of his political affiliations, told ET that such a move would only hurt Congress in the state.