Resurgent Congress plans organisational reshuffle in seven states

NEW DELHI: Taking advantage of the Lok Sabha election results and resurgence at the grassroot level, Congress proposes to turn its attention to streamline the party organisation at the state level. This will be a critical component of the proposed organisational reshuffle at the AICC. For the time being, the party is focusing on seven states ��� Assam, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

���There is a need to streamline the organisation in these states. Experiments of all kinds have been undertaken in the seven states and none of these yielded results, ��� a senior Congress leader said.

A shake up in the state leadership appears to be on the cards. In finalising the new leadership at the state level, the central leadership appears to be favouring leaders in the age group of 40 to 60 years. This would help maintaining a balance between youth and experience. ���The party needs political activism, if it is to rebuild itself,��� a leader said.

In some states like Bihar, there is a clear crisis of leadership. In Bihar, where the Congress won only two seats, state level leaders and grassroot workers have consistently maintained that the party���s state leadership was not responsive and did not work in tandem with the grassroot workers. The Congress leadership is aware that time is of the essence when it comes to Bihar since the state goes to the hustings in late 2010. ���Even if we think strategically and work continuously in Bihar, it may not be enough. Elections are on in little more than a year and there is a lot of ground to cover,��� an AICC functionary said.

It is a similar story in Karnataka. The party���s electoral fortunes have been on the ebb. Congress lost the assembly elections, then all eight of the by-elections and finally netted just six Lok Sabha seats, whereas it had eight in the outgoing Lok Sabha. There is a strong feeling that the state leadership has been ineffective despite various experiments it has undertaken to improve its electoral standing.

The crisis of state leadership appears to be a recurring theme. Senior Congress leader from Orissa JB Patnaik was rehabilitated in the Congress working committee (CWC) to make way for a change at the state level. But even KP Singh Deo���s leadership appears to have failed the party in reaping benefits from the BJP-BJD split. Senior party leadership are considering yet another change in the state.

In Himachal Pradesh, the state appears to have no leaders, especially now that Virbhadra Singh has moved to the Centre. Chhattisgarh, the other state where Congress has been unable to make any headway, has three working presidents. The top-heavy organisation is likely to be in for some trimming. The party leadership might consider accomodating some of the state leaders at the AICC, in order to make way for a changed order at the Centre.