Party needs overhauling at the grassroots level: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury

Interview with Former Union minister and West Bengal Congress chief

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, re-elected member of Parliament from Baharampur, speaks to Kavita Chowdhury on the steps being taken by the Congress for organisational revival after the party’s poll rout, admitting “Congress workers are a demoralised lot”. Excerpts:

It’s been three weeks since the Congress faced its worst electoral defeat in the Lok Sabha polls and yet there has been no action by the Congress high command on course correction. With several Assembly elections coming up, isn’t the delay too long?

At the highest level, they are meticulously examining the organisational framework. Our leadership is very serious about strengthening and consolidating the party, more so in states going to elections. Rahul Gandhi is meeting state leaders every day and 100 per cent evaluation is going on.

You have been an organisation man and a grass-roots leader. What steps should be taken to revive the organisation?

The party needs to be overhauled right at the grass roots. People within need to be assessed by past performance.

Most important, there is a trust deficit with the people at large (voters) that needs to be bridged. Since we have lost, there will be erosion within the party ranks but those who are committed party workers and believe ideologically in the Congress will stay.

As I always say, “election is occasional, politics is perpetual.”

Party senior Veerappa Moily had quite some time earlier prepared a report and suggested organisational elections. Are party elections the way forward?   

I don’t think so. If elections are manipulation, such intra-party elections are no good. Having these hasn’t helped us in the past. In any case, this is not the time for any of this; we need to build on the existing strength.

As West Bengal Congress chief, what is your road map for revamp? Places like Delhi and Haryana have already disbanded existing committees.

I don’t believe in disbanding committees; some people’s efforts have yielded results and others have not. I am meeting workers at the district level, assessing performance.

Mainly, Congress workers are a demoralised lot at present, so one needs to work on changing that.

They need to focus their energies on being action-oriented, made to focus on political activity in a sustained manner and acting as a responsible opposition — exposing the lacunae of the government in power at every opportunity.

In Bengal, the Congress is a much-depleted force, with not only the Trinamool Congress to contend with but divisions within your own state unit.

I won’t stand factionalism. Our vote share in the state has gone up from six per cent to 10 per cent and of the 44 Congress members in the Lok Sabha, four are from Bengal. So, the Bengal unit is not decimated either.