Tag: workers

Congress workers getting disillusioned in Bihar

Source: .outlookindia.com

Patna, Sep 3 The Congress party continues to be in a state of disarray in Bihar. With the Assembly polls scheduled next year, the party just doesn”t seem to be getting its act together.

The continued indecisiveness on the part of the party leadership has led to confusion among the party workers as to the future course of action on issues like the continuation of the alliance in the state.

The Congress spokesperson in Bihar, Harkhu Singh, admitted that the party is going through a very difficult phase. “Right from the central level to the state level, our party is right now going through a difficult phase. There is an urgent need for a change or a makeover. Our party interim President Sonia Gandhi is trying to do this,” he said.

The situation at the ground level is worsening day by day for the party in the state. A top Congress leader in the state admitted on the condition of anonymity that every other big or small party is busy with outreach programmes, but Congress leaders are not even attending the party meetings.

Recently, the state Congress” advisory committee meeting was held in Patna, the first after the debacle in the Lok Sabha polls, but only eight of the 29 members turned up. The meeting was called to discuss the strategy to strengthen the party and the continuance of alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

While some senior leaders like Sadanand Singh want the party to go solo in the Assembly polls, some are in favour of continuing the alliance with the RJD.

“There is no dearth of leaders in our party. We should go solo in the polls. The alliance has not brought any benefits to us,” Sadanand Singh said.

The party had won only 27 out of the 243 seats in the last Assembly polls in 2015, clearly showing that the alliance with RJD did not benefit them.

A Congress leader said: “Most of the leaders are only working in their constituencies in order to save their seats. No one is working on the organisational level.”

Before the Lok Sabha polls, big names like Shatrughan Sinha, Uday Singh and Tariq Anwar had joined the party, but none could achieve electoral success. Now the party has been left with a bigger problem of giving befitting responsibilities to each of them.

With no clear cut strategy on alliance, even the ordinary party worker is confused and disillusioned and this can very well spell more trouble for the Congress.

Jharkhand: 6 Congress workers expelled after protest against party unit chief

Source: indianexpress.com

The protesters raised slogans such as “Dr Ajoy Kumar, go back, go back”. A source in the party said Ranchi block presidents Sudhir Singh, Tinku Verma and Ashutosh Nath Pathak, among other leaders, have been expelled.

“It was a sponsored protest where some people raised slogans and were creating some objection while I was entering the premises. However, disciplinary action has been initiated,” said Ajoy Kumar after the meeting. Sources said workers are protesting as some of them want Assembly tickets, but the state leadership wants to give tickets to “energetic faces”.

The meeting was held to discuss the party’s alliance with the JMM and Left parties in the state. Sources said that 20 of the 24 district presidents showed their support for Kumar during the meeting. “Talks on alliance were discussed and various leaders discussed about the number of seats Congress is likely to contest. We discussed contesting 40 seats,” the source said. However, Kumar refrained from commenting further on the alliance talks and said “they are still in the deliberation mode”.

Leaders such as former Rajya Sabha MP Pradeep Balmuchu and former MP Subodh Kant Sahay have earlier openly criticised Kumar after the Congress’s Lok Sabha debacle.

Leaders said the trouble began when Kumar announced JMM’s Hemant Soren as the opposition alliance’s Chief Ministerial candidate for the Assembly elections, before the Lok Sabha polls. It was a strategic move for Kumar, but for the old guard this brought in resentment. Sources in the party said this infuriated Subodh Kant Sahay as he was not kept in the loop. “In a scenario when political coalitions change in 24 hours, how can a CM face be announced so much in advance. This completely lacked political acumen,” said one of the leaders.

Ranchi district president Sanjay Pandey said that Kumar induced “fresh air in the team” and had worked hard. “The problem now is that the old guard, who lost in the Lok Sabha elections, want to contest in Assembly. Kumar-ji will not let this happen and that is why roadblock has been created,” he said.

Sources in favour of Kumar also pointed to “indiscipline” in the party. Congress’s former minister and ex-MLA Banna Gupta had earlier criticised Kumar after which East Singhbhum district president Vijay Khan had issued Gupta a showcause notice. This move had also irked the old guard.