LUCKNOW: After tasting a crushing defeat in the recently concluded assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress is weighing three options to ensure the party’s revival and strengthen the organisation from the grassroots in the country’s politically most crucial state.
As per highly placed sources of the party unit in UP, AICC general secretary and party’s UP in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, in consultation with state leadership, has thrashed out the three options for the revival of the grand old party in
UP. She has put the three suggestions before the party national president Sonia Gandhi for her perusal and necessary action.
Significantly, the party which ruled Uttar Pradesh till 1989, could win just two seats in the state assembly polls of 2022. In fact, the Congress performance has been on a downward trajectory since the 2012 Assembly elections when the party had won 28 seats with 11.63 per cent vote share.
Its tally came down to seven seats with 6.56 per cent vote share in 2017 when it fought the assembly polls in alliance with the Samajwadi Party. However, in the recently concluded polls, the Congress tally of seats and vote share both dwindled drastically. While the party tally of seats came down to two, its vote share also fell to 2.33 per cent.
In order to breathe a new lease of life into the party unit in UP, the first option, as per the sources, under consideration is the re-constitution of the Congress Committee under the stewardship of some senior leader as has been the practice so far.
The second option, which Priyanka is believed to have thrashed out, is the appointment of four-five working presidents under the leadership of the state president who can look after the revival of the party organisation from the grassroots. Meanwhile, as per the third option, the party would divided the state into four major independent zones -- Western UP, Eastern UP, Awadh and Bundelkhand -- and set up independent committees for all four zones.
“Priyankaji has discussed these options with state leaders and office bearers and has sent all the three suggestions for Sonia Gandhi’s perusal. It is to be seen which of the three options the party high command goes with in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections,” said a senior Congress leader seeking anonymity. He added that a decision on these options is expected in the coming month.
It may be recalled that after the decimation of 2022, the then UP Congress Committee chief Ajay Kumar Lallu had quit from his post owning up party’s dismal performance as its candidates lost their deposits in over 399 seats. Even Lallu failed to save his pride on his traditional Tamkuhiraj seat in Kushinagar and remained at number three position.
In the meantime, the names of some senior state-based leaders including former UPCC president Nirmal Khatri, former Rajya Sabha MPs and senior leaders Pramod Tiwari and PL Punia, party’s communication cell head Nasimuddin Siddiqui, Acharya Pramod Krishnam and Nadeem Javed are doing the rounds as the possible contenders for the UPCC chief’s post.
However, the political activities of the UP Congress had come to a standstill since the resignation of Lallu. Now, the day-to-day activities of the party are being looked after by senior general secretary Dinesh Singh.