New Delhi, Feb, 19
Congress party’s top leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, are holding a meeting with state incharges and general secretaries of the party to discuss a strategy to revamp the party organisation in various states.
The meeting, under way at the party’s newly built headquarters Indira Bhawan here, comes days after Kharge carried out an organisational reshuffle across various states.
The Congress recently suffered electoral setbacks in states such as Haryana and Maharashtra where victory of the party in the Assembly polls “appeared a certainty”.
The party is keen to avoid similar outcomes in the coming Assembly elections slated to be held in various states.
Bihar will go to polls later this year while Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Assam and West Bengal will have Assembly elections in 2026. The NDA rules in Bihar, the LDF in Kerala and TMC in West Bengal. Out of the three states, the Congress organisation in Bihar and West Bengal is not strong. The Congress is strong in Kerala but needs to pull up its socks to defeat the LDF. The Congress party is an ally of the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu but is not part of the state government.
In Assam, Himanta Viswa Sarma, who heads the BJP government in the state, has launched a vitriolic campaign against Congress Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi. Gogoi is a strong contender for the post of Chief Minister of Assam in case the Congress secures a majority in the state. Sarma, in order to upset Gogoi’s apple cart, has accused him of having an ISI link.
In West Bengal, the Congress has got a new party chief. The question before the new Congress chief is whether to join hands with the Left parties or try for an alliance with the ruling Trinamool Congress in the coming Assembly elections in the state.
Kharge had earlier said the entire 2025 would be devoted to rebuilding the organisation which had been neglected over the past decades and induction of younger faces into the AICC. The recent reshuffle reflected that decision as Kharge named senior leader Krishna Allavaru, who had been in charge of the Youth Congress, as the incharge of Bihar.
Allavaru will visit Patna soon and review the state unit’s election preparedness along with senior leaders and frontal organisations. Allavaru was recently involved with Bihar politics as the Youth Congress led by Uday Bhanu Chib launched strong protests across the state to take up the issue of irregularities in recruitment exams.
Kharge had earlier disbanded the entire Himachal Pradesh unit and is in the process of revamping the organisation in the Congress-ruled state. The state units were disbanded in Uttar Pradesh and Odisha as well.
Kharge named senior leader Bhakta Charan Das as the state unit chief of Odisha and former MLA Ajay Kumar Lallu as the new AICC incharge of the state. Das will now conduct a yatra across the state to revamp the party organisation.
