Stunned by its humiliating defeat in the recent Handia byelection where the party candidate got merely 2,880 votes, the Congress is now preparing for major changes in the party organisation in Uttar Pradesh.
The party high command, according to sources, is now ready to take some drastic measures related to the party organisation on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections.
“To begin with, the yet-to-be-formed state Congress executive will be much smaller in size and the focus will be on young and energetic leaders who can devote time to organisational matters. This time, there will be no please-all effort, which meant including supporters of every top leader in the party executive. The party high command wants a small but effective committee on the eve of LS elections,” said a senior AICC leader closely associated with UP affairs.
The Congress is also deciding against fielding candidates who have lost a series of elections in a row. The party feels it will be better to field young and new candidates rather than keep repeating veteran who have set up a record of losing elections.
“There are a number of leaders who have lost two or more elections in a row but want to contest against because they do not want to yield their seats to someone else. Such leaders will not be given tickets and they will be asked to work for the party in different capacities,” the AICC leader.
The Congress, for the first time in Uttar Pradesh, is also keeping a close watch on leaders who have been hobnobbing with other parties in recent months.
“Loyalty has never been a big issue with us and we have taken a rather liberal view on this till now but the party leadership is now keen to weed out fence-sitters. We have been receiving information about some leaders who are keeping channels of communication with other parties and they are in for a shock this time because the party is keeping track of their activities,” the leader added. “It is too early to reveal our strategy because elections are still some months away,” he said.