Congress chalks out revival plan in the run-up to 2024 elections

Udaipur, May 15 (PTI) After a three-day brainstorming session, the Congress on Sunday decided to focus on re-establishing the lost connect with people and resolved to usher in a host of organisational reforms, including “one family, one ticket” and fielding those below 50 years of age in half of the seats from 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The Congress' 'Chintan Shivir' concluded with a call for a “Bharat Jodo” (unite India) campaign and party president Sonia Gandhi announced a mass contact programme from Kanyakumari to Kashmir starting October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, to reach out at the grassroots. She said senior leaders like her will also participate in the yatra.

The party adopted the “Nav Sankalp” declaration in which it decided to herald path-breaking changes like putting a cap of five years on leaders holding a particular post, allocating 50 percent of the posts in the organisation to those below 50 years of age and calling for fixing of retirement age for those in Parliament, state legislatures and other elected posts.

The decision to bank on youth comes after a prolonged old-versus-new tussle and a series of exits of young leaders from the Congress in recent years that had been attributed to the party's old guard failing to address the aspirations of the so-called 'gen-next' leaders.

The reforms that are aimed at helping reboot the Congress and making it battle-ready for upcoming elections, come in the wake of the series of electoral reverses for the party in the last eight years after it was ousted from power in 2014.

However, the party has added a caveat to the 'one family, one ticket' formula stating that if another member in one's family is politically active, then only after five years of organisational experience that person should be considered eligible for a Congress ticket.

The Congress also said it was committed to establishing a dialogue with all like-minded parties to protect the spirit of nationalism and democracy and would keep open avenues for forging alliances according to political circumstances.

In his concluding remarks, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi acknowledged that the Congress' connection with people has been “broken” and urged leaders to shift focus from internal matters and re-establish the connect with the public, saying there are no shortcuts and it can be achieved only through hard work and by the sweat of their brow.

Sonia Gandhi also announced the setting up of a task force to implement the reforms and an advisory committee of CWC members headed by her to deliberate on political issues, while making it clear that it will not be a collective decision-making body.

Her assertion assumes significance as the G-23 dissident leaders had made a persistent call for “collective leadership” in the party while demanding an organisational overhaul.

“We will overcome. That is our determination. That is our Nav Sankalp (new resolution). The Congress will have a new uday (dawn). That is our Nav Sankalp,” said the 75-year-old longest-serving president of the party.

She also termed the deliberations at the Shivir as “very useful and productive”.

Gandhi said a compact task force will be set up to drive the process of internal reforms that are essential and have been discussed in different groups during the Udaipur meeting.

These reforms with a focus on the 2024 Lok Sabha polls will cover all aspects of the organisation including structure, rules for appointments to party posts, communications and publicity, outreach, finances and election management, she said in her concluding remarks.

The composition of the task force will be notified in the next two-three days.

“I have also decided to have an advisory group drawn from the CWC that would meet regularly under my chairpersonship to discuss and deliberate upon political issues and challenges before our party. Of course, we do have the CWC that meets from time to time and that will continue.

“The new group is not, however, a collective decision-making body but will help me get the benefit of the vast experience of senior colleagues,” she asserted and said it will be notified very soon.

Rahul Gandhi urged senior and junior leaders to sit with people “without thinking anything” and urged them to understand the problems of people.

“The Congress' connection with the people has been broken, we will have to accept that, we will have to re-establish that connection. The people know that only the Congress can take the country forward. This is our responsibility,” Rahul Gandhi said.

He asserted that it is the party's responsibility to fight and stand with the people, and there “were no shortcuts” to re-establishing the connect with them.

“It's a complaint. Our entire discussion, all talk is about our internal matters…who is getting which post. Our focus is internal. In today's time this internal focus will not work, our focus should be external,” he said.

Rahul Gandhi also hailed as “an important idea” the party's decisions to give more representation to the youth and empower them, while adding that there should be a “healthy mix of youngsters and seniors”.

He also supported the 'one family, one ticket' formula, saying he was not in favour of five-six members of one family in the party. The party adopted the 'one-family, one ticket' formula with the rider that another family member seeking to contest elections should have worked in the party organisation for at least five years.

He also put his weight behind youth, hailing more representation in party tickets and positions.

Sonia Gandhi said the yatra is aimed at strengthening the bonds of social harmony "that are under stress, preserving the foundational values of our Constitution that are under assault" and highlighting the day-to-day concerns of crores of people.

The Congress chief said phase-2 of the district-level Jan Jagran Abhiyan that was launched earlier will resume on June 15 and will highlight economic issues especially the "growing unemployment and intolerable price rise that is destroying livelihoods".

Over 400 party leaders from across the country participated in the deliberations at the Shivir which was announced after renewed calls for reforms in the party in the wake of a string of electoral defeats.

While adopting the 'Nav Sankalp' declaration, the party said exactly 80 years ago, in the year 1942, Mahatma Gandhi gave the slogan of "Quit India" and in 2022, the slogan of "Jodo India" (Unite India) should be adopted now.

The Congress also called for the passage of a constitutional amendment to provide 33 percent reservation for women in Parliament, legislative assemblies and legislative councils to ensure the empowerment of women.

The party also changed its stand on 'quota within quota' under the women's reservation bill, saying women in every category should get the benefit of proportionate reservation.

The Congress also resolved to raise the demands of SCs/STs/minorities and OBCs across the country through the organisation, and as a first step, it would press for an SC-ST sub-plan with legal recognition in the budgets of the central and provincial governments.

“At the organisational level, 50 percent of the posts should go to colleagues below 50 years of age. The youth group also concluded that a retirement age be fixed in Parliament, legislatures, legislative council and all elected posts.

“In future party governments, 50 percent of people below 50 years of age should occupy positions. More experienced people should be used for strengthening the organisation.

"Beginning with the 2024 parliamentary elections, at least 50 percent of party tickets be granted to those below 50 years of age in parliament, legislatures, legislative councils and other levels,” the resolution said.