As Cong looks to revive Guj connect via AICC session, members sceptical
Even as the upcoming AICC session in Ahmedabad is being projected by the Congress as an effort towards reviving the party’s historical connection with Gujarat, the propaganda seems to be failing at lifting the mood of party functionaries.
Highlighting the party’s old association with the state, billboards displaying images of Mahatma Gandhi confabulating with Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel have been erected along the road linking the airport to Ahmedabad city.
The well-known picture of Gandhi, Nehru and Patel – shot during the Congress session in Ahmedabad in 1921 – is flanked by the imposing images of Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge in the billboards.
If a miracle could transform the current leadership of the grand old party to the stature of one of its old guards, it better takes place now as the Congress workers have never shown such signs of despair as they are doing now in the wake of the onslaught by the PM Narendra Modi-led BJP.
“The Congress party’s own initiative to make a turnaround in its fortunes is taking us nowhere. Our only hope is that the BJP will one day commit a blunder and that will turn the tide in the Congress’ favour”, an AICC member, who has come to attend the party event in Ahmedabad, told this reporter.
The party member is not alone in thinking in this fashion. An increasing number of Congress supporters have started to believe that only a mistake that they hope the BJP would commit one day – rather than some initiative taken by the Congress party’s leadership – could help the party in bouncing back into the political scene.
“Only those who say good things about the party’s initiatives will be allowed to speak during the two-day AICC session in Ahmedabad. Anyone who might talk about the reality will not be given a chance to speak,” lamented a party functionary.
During the two-day AICC session, which is set to begin in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, the party is slated to make a slew of announcements regarding its organisational rejuvenation, including giving more powers to district Congress presidents and ensuring accountability. The party will also finalise its strategy for the upcoming Assembly polls this year and the next year.
Several important resolutions are expected to be passed at the session. Besides, the Congress has also set up a drafting committee for the session.
Top Congress leaders — including Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge — will take part in the session that will be the party’s sixth session in the state and second post-Independence.
Gujarat – where the Congress party has failed to win an Assembly election since 1995 – will hold the next Assembly poll in 2027 and the AICC session in Ahmedabad is expected to help the party’s cause in the coming elections in the state.
India