Much-hyped Udaipur declaration of Congress goes for a toss

New Delhi: It seems the Congress party has decided to discard its much-touted Udaipur declaration.

The appointment of senior Congress general secretary Mukul Wasnik as in-charge of Gujarat goes against the declaration adopted by the grand old party at the end of its three-day 'Chintan Shivir (brainstorming session)' in Udaipur (Rajasthan) in May 2022.

Wasnik, 63, has been a party general secretary for over 20 years now since 2002, per his biodata on the Rajya Sabha website.

The Udaipur declaration clearly stated the term of a position of person should be limited to five years so that the new people get an opportunity to serve the organisation. “Not only this, but taking into consideration the demographics of India, it is important to ensure that 50% of the office bearers in Congress Working Committee (CWC), Pradesh Congress Committees (PCCs), District Congress Committees (DCCs), Block Congress Committees and Mandal Congress Committees are below the age of 50. Each of these units must also reflect social reality. Just and fair representation to Dalits (Scheduled Castes), Adivasis (Scheduled Tribes), backward classes, minorities and women should be ensured,” it emphasised.

On this ground, Wasnik should not have been considered for this assignment.

But this was not the first time that the declaration had been violated.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was the first one to break the norms when he retained the post of the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha along with the party chief's position.

This was in stark contrast to his repeated assertions before taking over as the Congress president that implementing the Udaipur declaration in letter and spirit was his only agenda.

One of the resolutions incorporated in the Udaipur declaration stressed the need for following the one-person, one-post norm. Rahul Gandhi too on many occasions during his Bharat Jodo Yatra had endorsed the proposal.

"The principle of one person, one post should be followed. Likewise, the principle of one family, one ticket should also be ensured. In case another member of the family is politically active, they will be considered for a ticket only after five years of organisational experience," read the declaration.

However, the two proposals later did not find any mention in the 85th plenary session at Raipur (Chhattisgarh) in February this year.