Ex-Speaker calls for surgical intervention for Congress revival

Former Assembly Speaker and senior Congress leader Kuldeep Sharma has raised concerns about the party’s leadership and organisational weakness, calling for a serious overhaul. Sharma emphasised the need for a surgical intervention rather than minor solutions for its revival in the state.

Sharma, while interacting with The Tribune, stressed the need for introspection across Congress leadership, warning that if these issues are not addressed, the party would continue to lose ground, as it has in other states like Odisha, Bihar and West Bengal.

‘Party lacks organisational structure’

The Congress has suffered due to the lack of organisational structure. The BJP has reached every street and every household, while we lack an effective structure. Despite having a state president, we do not even have booth-level leadership. The party’s internal divisions have undermined its progress and left it vulnerable to BJP’s organised strategy. — Kuldeep Sharma, Senior Congress leader

“Bandaid solutions will not work. We need surgical interventions to rebuild our organisation. The Congress has suffered due to the lack of organisational structure,” said Sharma.

“The BJP has reached every street and every household, while we lack an effective structure. Despite having a state president, we do not even have booth-level leadership,” he said. He argued that the party’s internal divisions have undermined its progress and left it vulnerable to BJP’s organised strategy.

He also pointed out how even during Parliament elections, the absence of grass-roots organisational structure had affected the party’s prospects. He said that there was an urgent need of forming a strong organisational structure.

On former Congress MLA from Assandh Shamsher Singh Gogi’s statement against state party affairs in-charge, Deepak Babaria, Sharma said Gogi’s opinion might be his personal view. “Gogi ji is a senior leader and he must have spoken thoughtfully,” he added.

He dismissed claims that Babaria was mismanaging the Congress, describing him as more focused on NGO-like activities than party organisation. He said that Babaria had submitted a report to the high command analysing the reasons behind the Congress’s defeat, which would soon be reviewed.

He also pointed out that the rift within the leaders of the party should have been resolved on time. “BJP leaders, who once criticised the party, were successfully brought back into the fold. In contrast, the Congress has made little effort to retain leaders or address internal conflicts. The BJP’s strategy of supporting Independents to divide votes is part of why they have been effective,” he added.

Sharma also addressed the recent electoral defeat of former MLA from Karnal and Congress leader, Sumita Singh, and said that her campaign initially showed promise with support from former BJP loyalists, but something shifted in the final days. “Her campaign was going strong initially, with several prominent figures from the BJP joining her. But what went wrong in those last three days needs a thorough analysis,” he said.