New Delhi: Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge has started work on revamping the West Bengal unit after the grand old party's poor performance in the eastern state ruled by ally Mamata Banerjee.
Out of the total 42 parliamentary seats in West Bengal, the Congress contested 14 but could win only 1 seat Malda which is represented by Isha Khan Chaudhary in the Lok Sabha and gathered just a four per cent vote share.
Upon instructions from Kharge, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in charge of organization KC Venugopal spent four hours on July 29 meeting 24 state leaders one-on-one to ascertain the reasons behind the party's poor show in the national elections. During the July 29 meeting, Venugopal also discussed the way forward and the names of leaders who could lead the state unit.
According to party insiders, most of the state leaders suggested a thorough revamp of the organisation in the state and blamed former state unit head Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury for neglecting the party as he got busy targeting TMC president and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the past years.
The state leaders also suggested that the Congress should now strive to dislodge the BJP as the main opposition in West Bengal and occupy that space first before taking on the TMC, which too fights the saffron party but is also an ally within the INDIA bloc.
Banerjee had refused to have a seat-sharing with Congress in the Lok Sabha elections but her MPs fought the NDA shoulder to shoulder with Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi.
"We have started discussions with the state leaders on revamping the party. The time being devoted indicates our seriousness. More consultations may be needed. The high command will take a decision. The BJP is our main rival in the state and we need to regroup there," AICC secretary in charge of West Bengal BP Singh told ETV Bharat.
With changes in the state unit on the cards, persons close to former Pradesh Congress Committee chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said he had been urging the high command to appoint a full-time state head for a long time and suggested that it was time to bring forth a new set of leadership in the state. Chowdhury wants to stay away from the limelight after losing his traditional Lok Sabha seat Beharampur, they said.
During the national elections, Chowdhury was snubbed by Kharge who said that as party chief he would decide the line of action to be taken vis a vis Mamata Banerjee who was doubting the Congress's capability to fight the BJP.
Party insiders say, in a way, Adhir was not wrong as he had to put up a strong face in state politics at a time when national politics forced the Congress to keep Mamata in good humour. Among the probable names for the new Pradesh Congress Committee chief include Sankar Malakar, Nepal Mahto, DP Ray and Isha Khan Chaudhary.
"We have to defeat the BJP at any cost. Over the coming days we will launch several programs to connect with the voters," Sankar Malakar told ETV Bharat. According to party insiders, once the Congress can regain lost ground in the state, it can take a call on whether to keep ally Left parties or not.
