Strengthen Cong in J-K: state chief to party leaders

After facing debacle in recent assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress under its newly appointed state chief is trying to "set its house in order" by strengthening the party at the grassroot level.
"We must now work to strengthen the party and set our own house in order," Jammu Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee President Ghulam Ahmed Mir told the executive members of the party during "Drishtikon 2015" seminar here today.
Mir asked the party leaders to connect to the party's grassroot workers as last year's assembly elections have provided them an opportunity to "reconnect" with the people.
"We must come out of the protocol and accept the fact that after remaining in power for 12 long years, we are no longer in power, this has given us an opportunity to connect with the people at the grassroots level and help strengthen the party," he said.

He cautioned the party leaders that they should stop day-dreaming.
"There is no scope to dream that something will fall and we will get to rule again."

Asking the party leaders to work for the unity of the party so as to regain its lost ground in Jammu and Kashmir, Mir said, "Congress is full of experienced leaders, but there is a division within the party and we need to unite to strengthen it. The Congress leadership has given us an opportunity to unite. We have to stand with Sonia Gandhi and our young leader Rahul Gandhi".
"We have a bigger role in the state and in the country where people have given us the mandate to be in the Opposition and raise their issues," he said.

"For the first time we all (Congress leaders) are under one roof, we have done a lot for the people of the state, UPA chairperson was kind enough to help the state in every possible way during UPA I and II but we might have failed somewhere by not taking this amongst the people," he said.
He said that the congress leaders in the state do not need to lose heart as the party has done well when compared to what some people believed.
"In Ladakh we made a record by getting three out of four seats, in Kashmir we lost many seats from a very small margin and while we had only three seats last time, this time we have four," he said.

He assured the leaders that as chief of the state unit of the party, he would be available for the party workers all the time.
"I will always remain available, I have always worked for the party in various capacities and will be always available for the party and the people," he said.