Madhya Pradesh, once a Congress bastion, but now in doldrums is set to be restructured by the Grand Old Party in one of the strongholds of the saffron camp-Vidisha. Congress leadership must have detected chinks in the BJP armour in this area though Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan won this Lok Sabha seat by 8.2 lakh votes in 2024 Lok Sabha elections
No doubt, it is a brave attempt on the part of the Congress to kick off it’s pilot project to revamp the party in Vidisha. In this context one cannot be accused of digression if it is mentioned that the BJP has won in Vidisha Lok Sabha seat since 1989 which including by eIections.
Among the Assembly constituencies making up Vidisha, the BJP has won in seven while the Congress emerged victorious in only one seat in 2023 Assembly elections. Yet the Congress leadership has shortlisted this saffron citadel to begin its political comeback journey.
And if successful it would be replicated in 52 districts of MP making up this state. The organisational revival game plan comprises a new tier of committees at the panchayat and ward level.
Congress has its back to the wall in Madhya Pradesh. The organisational revamp aims to rejuvenate the party rank and file at the grassroot level.
Even as state Congress described this “back to the grassroots” project as an “organisational renaissance”, it ought to draw lessons from its slide from the peak of political power to its pits. Congress emerged as the single largest party in 2020 Assembly elections and formed the government with BSP and SP.
But the Congress state government headed by chief minister Kamal Nath, once part of late Sanjay Gandhi ‘s caucus fell following a series of defections including that of prominent Congress leader, Jyotiraditya Scindia. A floor test was ordered by Supreme Court after BJP and Congress moved it,but Kamal Nath resigned before it
On 23 March, 2020 Chouhan took oath as chief minister. In 2023 Assembly elections, Congress won in only 66 out of 230 constituencies.
Going by existing blueprint,the Congress is going to arrange its activists in a three tier arrangement. It would be sector, mandalam and booths which will do the spade work to cut down BJP organisation at the grassroot level.
The concept of mandalam is actually Kamal Nath ‘s brain child. He introduced it in 2018 when he took over state party chief before 2018 Assembly elections.
Panchayat and urban committed have been made part of the restructuring process. The newly decided structure would be put in place in the 500-odd gram panchayats and100 -plus urban wards of Vidisha..
A team of Congress activists would work in 125 mandalam. Each activist will cover two mandalams in the rural areas
These activists will identify persons sympathetic to Congress ideology and connect them to the party structure. In so many words, it is an outreach programme.
The process involves an extensive household survey. From it a formidable data base to draw upon before a campaign.
Biographical details of late leaders will be gathered and showcased. Their connect to the freedom struggle and post independence development of the country will be focussed and compared performance of the saffron brigade chieftains.
The committee formation is targetted to be completed by the middle of next month. The evaluation of the pilot project on the basis of electoral readiness, activists feedback and efficiency of implementation will follow thereafter..
Never a cadre based party, this move to turn it into one is not quite to the liking of many a Congress activist. The organisational revamp does not quite fit snugly into organisational ethos of Congress, it was learnt
But the leadership of the Congress has given its nod to try out the new method of outreach. For at the end of the day, the maximum connect with the masses is a surefire way of being the first past the post in the elections.
