Chintan Shivir: Congress moots 'one family, one ticket' formula, but waiver for the Gandhis

Aditi Tandon

Udaipur, May 13

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday set the ball rolling for comprehensive organisational overhaul saying the party was in dire need of reforms and extraordinary situations called for extraordinary measures.

Near-consensus has emerged in the party over the adoption of “one family, one ticket” formula, with waivers for leaders with an exceptional track record in an organisational role for at least five years.

The waiver would cover the party’s ruling Gandhi family where party chief Sonia Gandhi and son Rahul have both been contesting Lok Sabha elections. Under the waiver, even AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would have qualified for the ticket by the 2024 General Election. She assumed charge as the UP general secretary in January 2019.

Kick-starting the three-day ‘Chintan Shivir’ of the party here, Sonia acknowledged serial electoral setbacks and the need for the Congress to change the way it worked, even as she assailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “keeping India in a state of permanent polarisation, brutalising minorities and resorting to wholesale reinvention of history”.

Sonia’s crisp 16-minute speech delivered mixed messages on issues confronting the nation and challenges confronting the Congress.

With G-23 members Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma seated in the front alongside Rahul Gandhi, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, Sonia said cadre unity and collective effort was the only way forward to the party’s revival. The Congress chief questioned the PM on economic downslide and non-fulfilment of promises to farmers, calling upon the party to “fight the virus of divisiveness at all costs”. But it was the issue of Congress’ organisational atrophy that Sonia flagged most deeply, terming it “the most fundamental issue”.

“The circumstances our organisation faces today are unprecedented. Such extraordinary situations demand extraordinary measures. Every organisation to live and prosper must reform itself. We are in dire need of reforms–changes in strategy, improvement in the organisation and transformation in the way Congress functions on a daily basis,” she said to 422 delegates who were made to pack off cell-phones in hired lockers to prevent leaks to the media, as they proceeded to commence panel discussions at a posh local resort here.

In her remarks too, Sonia stressed discipline asking leaders to speak freely but ensure that a singular message of unity and resolve emanates from the Shivir.

“Time has come to keep personal ambitions below organisational imperatives and repay the party’s debt,” she insisted even as former minister Kapil Sibal skipped the event but former general secretary Janardan Dwivedi (whose son had joined the BJP) attended.

Earlier, Sonia fired multiple salvos at the government saying PM’s slogan of maximum governance, minimum government meant, “keeping the country in a state of permanent polarisation, compelling people to live in constant fear…it means victimising and often brutalising minorities who are equal citizens of our republic…”

Moments after Gandhi’s remarks, Congress leaders got into a huddle to find ways of reviving the party from the worst-ever electoral phase in its 136-year history.

New organisational unit ‘Mandal’ on cards

• ‘Mandal samitis’ to come up as a new unit in the organisation between polling booth and block
• In-house public insight department to gauge public mood, stay connected with their issues
• Internal assessment wing to promote performers and check inertia
• Fixed five-year tenure for office-bearers, followed by three-year cooling-off period
• 50% leaders across all levels of AICC organisation to be under 50 years

‘Dire need’: Sonia signals extraordinary reforms

422 attend meet

• 422 delegates attend Chintan Shivir at a Udaipur resort
• Made to pack off cell-phones in hired lockers to prevent leaks to media

Minorities being brutalised

Modi govt has been keeping the country in a state of permanent polarisation, brutalising minorities and resorting to wholesale reinvention of history. — Sonia Gandhi, Cong president