CUDDALORE: The Congress party has a weak organisational structure and has also failed to attract the youth, senior leader and former Finance Minster P Chidambaram said on Saturday evening while addressing party cadre in Indira Nagar at Neyveli.
“The Congress party does not have a proper organisational set up. It has committees in all the states but some of them are not active. The district committees don’t function in many of the 650 districts India has. In Tamil Nadu too, Congress does not have committees in five districts. The party also lacks bodies at the block and village levels. Without proper organisation set up, how will people approach our party? This is why the Congress party is weak,” Chidambaram said.
He also lamented the party’s inability to enlist youth participation in its ranks.
“Most Congress members are above 60 years of age. Middle-aged members are upset as there is no youth participation. A few years ago, around 13 lakh youth joined the party. But many of them did not extend their party membership. Only 2 lakh continue as members today,” the senior Congress leader said.
“We should form block and village-level committees to strengthen the party’s organisation set-up. We have already started the process in Sivaganga district,” he added.
Lauding the party’s performance in the recently-concluded bypolls, Chidambaram said, “Congress won the Uttarakhand by-elections. JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav joined hands with the Congress and won the bypoll in Bihar. If other states follow a similar path, BJP can easily be defeated in future elections.”
The former Union minister further claimed that minority communities have not been able to trust the BJP government at the Centre and are living in fear.
Party’s district president Radhakrishnan presided over the meeting, which was also attended by former party MPs K S Azhagiri and P Vallal Peruman.