Need to make structural changes in NE Cong units: Faleiro

Admitting that the state Congress units in the northeast need to introspect and work on their strengths and weaknesses, senior leader Luihinzo Faleiro has called for structural changes in the party.

Faleiro, who is the All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in-charge of the northeast, said the party will come up with an action plan and a road map for the restructuring programme in about 6,000 villages of Meghalaya over the next 15 days.

The nation was going through "disturbing times", with the incumbent BJP government doing nothing to improve the economic and employment scenario, he claimed.

"The Congress is going through difficult times, we have to accept it. We are doing our introspection to find out and work on our strengths and weaknesses.

"However, more than the Congress party, it is the nation which is going through disturbing times," Faleiro said on Friday during a meeting with Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) leaders, party MLAs and other functionaries.

He sought the support of regional parties, maintaining that the BJP-led government was not sensitive to the needs of the indigenous communities in the northeast.

"The former economic adviser to the prime minister had clearly stated that the way the GDP was being manipulated, it was wrong. There is no industrial growth or agricultural growth, the BJP government has taken the country 45 years behind in terms of employment opportunities," he said.

The regional parties in the northeast should realize that the BJP-led NDA government was working against their interests, Faleiro stressed.

"The NDA government has withdrawn special category status to the northeast states, it was now trying to implement the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill here. It is important to realise whether being a member of the NEDA would be beneficial for the region in the long-run," he said, urging the regional outfits to unite and "defeat the agenda" of the BJP.

The Congress has won three of 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam and one seat in Meghalaya in the recently concluded general election.