In battle of ideologies, only Cong can trump RSS-BJP: Rahul; kicks off party revamp in Gujarat

Modasa (Gujarat): Admitting Congress cadres seem "demoralised" in Gujarat, where the party is out of power for long, Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said only his outfit can defeat RSS-BJP as he sought to position the fight against the saffron rivals as an ideological duel. On his second visit to Gujarat in a week, the Congress MP laid out the road map to revamp the organisation in the state and promised to remove party leaders who are either inactive or "work for the BJP". He described Gujarat, where the Congress was once a powerful political force, as the most important state for the opposition party and expressed his resolve to finish the task of defeating the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is in power here for nearly 30 years. Gandhi was addressing booth-level Congress workers at Modasa town in Arvalli district after launching a pilot project of strengthening district units as part of the grand old party's push to revamp the organisation in Gujarat, where assembly polls are due in late 2027. A five-member committee, comprising one AICC observer and four state observers, will oversee the process of appointing new chiefs for each of the 41 district units (including eight cities) of the party in Gujarat, starting from Aravalli district. In his address, Gandhi made several promises to workers such as devolving more power and funding to district units, assessing performance of senior figures, promoting ground-level active functionaries and removing those leaders who are either inactive or "working for the BJP". "This is a battle of ideologies. There are only two parties which have ideologies - one is the BJP and other is the Congress. And, only the Congress can defeat the BJP and the RSS. Gujarat is the most important state for the party because the path to BJP's defeat goes through Gujarat. "In a way, the Congress came into existence from Gujarat because two of the party's great leaders - Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel - were from this state," Gandhi told the gathering.

Admitting party cadres in Gujarat are "demoralised" as the Congress is out of power in the state for nearly three decades, Gandhi insisted it is not difficult to defeat the saffron outfit. "You feel that it is difficult to defeat the BJP here. I have come here to tell you that it is easy to defeat the BJP and we will definitely do that. We just need some changes in the party's functioning. Local leaders highlighted some issues such as destructive competition among leaders and distribution of poll tickets without consulting local leadership," he noted. The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha went on to categorise Congress leaders in three categories -- race horses, wedding procession horses and 'langda ghoda' (injured horses). He maintained the party is not performing well in Gujarat because race horses are "made to dance in weddings", while those meant for "dancing" are asked to participate in a race (fight elections). "Time has come to separate them. We will make race horses run (in elections) and make wedding horses dance (not give any work). District units must be run from districts, not Ahmedabad. That's why we have started this exercise of giving more powers to district presidents," said Gandhi. The five-member committee will meet party workers in each district and shortlist names of five-six probable candidates who can be made district presidents. The chosen district president will take decisions to run the district unit without any interference or instructions "from above", he promised. District presidents will have a greater say in selection of candidates for assembly polls, said Gandhi. "There must be a connection between the party organisation and poll candidates. Many times, after winning an election, the MLA does not bother about the organisation which had played an important role in his victory. Now, the organisation will select candidates. No one from above will decide about candidates," asserted the former Congress president. Charting out a new approach, Gandhi declared only those party leaders who remain connected with people and raise their issues will be promoted, while those who stay inactive or become active only during elections will be sidelined. "The party will take decisions only after consulting grassroots workers. We want to promote the new generation and those who remain among people. We also need to identify and sideline those who are working for the BJP," the Lok Sabha member affirmed.

During interaction with cadres, a party worker told Gandhi Congress leaders get active only 10 days before elections and then they "just disappear". To this, Gandhi admitted at present, the party does not "measure" the performance of its senior leaders. "But now, we will start that. We will check how many booths a leader managed to win. This will start competition. If we form a government in Gujarat, the best performing district president will be made a minister. We will give power to those who can strengthen the Congress," he promised. Gandhi promised to induct more women in the organisation and highlighted there was not a single woman district president at present in Gujarat. A worker complained funds meant for organisational work at grassroots level are not utilised properly, as a result they have to spend from their pockets. Gandhi urged district heads to make efforts and raise funds at local level. "Normally, the party gives funds to candidates 3 to 4 months before any poll. Now, we will make a corpus fund and give it to the district unit," he said.