Panchayat polls the first test for expanded UPCC team
LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) that was expanded to accommodate more leaders from different sections will have to show results at the ground level in the panchayat elections for the party to be considered a serious contender in 2022 assembly polls. The three-tier panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh begin on April 15.
The expansion was carried out with the induction of vicepresidents, general secretaries and secretaries. The exercise was aimed at strengthening the party ahead of the panchayat elections and gearing up the organisation for the state assembly elections.
“Yes, we have inducted 60 more office bearers to give representation to different sections. We have accommodated young and experienced leaders alike and the total strength of UPCC office bearers has reached 125 now. We have fixed responsibilities for the new team to ensure good results,” UPCC president Ajay Kumar Lallu.
Under the new structure, a general secretary will work as the incharge of the party’s organisation in three districts. A secretary will be in charge of a district now. As many of those appointed in the new team have worked on various posts earlier, the party is claiming to have roped in leaders from different sections and regions.
“We have tried to accommodate leaders from different sections and regions. The new team will help us in strengthening the party organisation for the panchayat elections and achieving the objectives in the 2022 assembly elections,” said Lallu.
“We are sure the new team will show good results under the leadership of Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The party will work harder in the coming months and all leaders will be accommodated somewhere or the other,” said UPCC spokesman Surendra Rajput.
Did the Congress take any steps to take along the party’s veterans and youngsters, who raised a banner of revolt soon after formation of the new UPCC? “We will make efforts to take along all those who have been left out,” said Lallu.
Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Aradhna Mishra ‘Mona’ said the new team was full of energy and would work hard for the party under Priyanka Gandhi’s leadership in the 2022 assembly elections in the state.
A senior party leader said a party veteran had been asked to get in touch with old guards and make efforts to bring those expelled earlier back to the party fold. “Priyanka Gandhi Vadra believes in inclusive politics. She is serious about bringing back old-timers and we hope the party will work unitedly in the coming months,” said the leader.
“Bringing in new generation leaders is always welcome. But bringing new leaders at the cost of old timers, who have been loyal to the party, cannot help. You cannot strengthen the organisation by humiliating the old guard,” said Satyadev Tripathi, a former minister, who is one of the veteran leaders expelled by the party earlier.
Others, however, said the party needed to work more and show results before it was considered a serious contender for power in the state. The Congress should follow its own rules about size of the UPCC.
“When Ajay Kumar Lallu took over as the UPCC chief, the party talked about having a smaller team. But the party is back to having a large committee,” said a senior party leader. Another expelled leader Siraj Mehandi said the party was not giving sufficient time to its office bearers.
“Lucknow city unit president Mukesh Chauhan has been removed in a few months after his appointment. Chauhan has been the choice of party workers.
With new office bearers, the party needs to work at the grassroot level and show results. The party acted against its veterans and no efforts have been made to take them along. Those sitting on the top in the state are not being given proper feedback to the high command,” said Mehandi.