‘Cong to devote coming year for organisational revamp’

New Delhi: Reeling under election losses, the Congress party will devote 2025 for a major organisational revamp that will see more young leaders in key posts, examination of “capabilities of leaders” and fulfilment of the key tasks set at the party’s Udaipur Chintan Shivir in 2022.

In his inaugural speech at the Congress Working Committee meeting at Belagavi on Thursday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that 2025 will be “the year of our organisation’s empowerment.”

“We will fill all the vacant posts in the organisation. We will fully implement the Udaipur Declaration. We will equip our organisation with the necessary skills to win elections from AICC to Mandal and booth. We will have to find such people who are ideologically committed, who are ready to fight to protect the Constitution, who believe in the Congress Party’s Idea of India. Such people have to be connected to the party and brought into the mainstream,” he said.

Of the seven tasks set at the Udaipur conclave, the Congress has implemented four suggestions including the expansion of the CWC to include 50% youth, women, SC, ST and OBC members. However, one person one post, restriction of tickets to families and the setting up of an election management cell remain pending.

“Only hard work is not enough, time-bound solid strategy and direction is necessary. There is a need to give a chance to new power and bring up local and new leadership. We have the power of ideas, the legacy of Gandhi-Nehru and the heritage of great heroes. We will return from Belgaum with a new message and new resolution,” Kharge added.

A section of the Congress feels that the party will push for more young leaders in crucial roles and put a premium on ideological commitment. “The emphasis on fulfilling the Udaipur declaration is important as many key tasks, including creating a dedicated election management cell, is pending,” said a Congress leader, asking not to be named.

“There are major decisions. More than 50 leaders participated in the discussions. Kharge and Rahul Gandhi both spoke in depth. We have decided that 2025 is going to see organisation revamp programme at every level, booth to top examination of capability,” said KC Venugopal.

In its resolution on Gandhi, the Congress said, “The Congress Working Committee reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the values that defined Mahatma Gandhi’s entire life, to the causes he championed relentlessly and the ideals he upheld. It recalls that Mahatma Gandhi’s life was anchored in truth, non-violence, fearlessness and simplicity.”

“It was dedicated to the gaining of political freedom along with profound societal transformation. India has achieved a great deal since independence. But even as our country has progressed impressively, his relevance has only become more significant. In our continued quest for deeper social and economic justice and growth with ecological balance he continues to be a guide and a moral compass. In our continued pursuit of communal harmony and amity, without which economic advancement will have little meaning, he remains the exemplar.”