Rahul Gandhi discusses with Congress leaders on ways to strengthen base

New Delhi, Dec 24: Grappling to arrest the party's sliding base, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday held consultations with AICC general secretaries and asked them to reach out to workers at the grassroots for feedback on how to take the party forward after successive poll debacles.

Congress sources said a meeting of AICC could be called to discuss the suggestions received after two months, when the process closes.

The party also plans to come out with a compilation of the suggestions in a booklet form. In the meeting, Gandhi asked the general secretaries to prepare a report within two months with feedback from block and district level workers.

After the Lok Sabha poll debacle, Gandhi himself had held interactions with young and senior party leaders from various states in groups to take their feedback on how to strengthen the party at the grassroots and make a turn around.

Issues like how to widen the party's reach, what should Congress organisation look like and whether any changes are required, and how to push the core ideology of Congress among people and convey to the cadres with clarity were discussed, party spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said at the AICC briefing.

Asked whether there was discussion about how to create a cadre base like that of BJP, Ahmed said Congress is already a party with cadres and has evolved from mass movement.

"Every party tries to strengthen its cadre base," he said evading a direct reply. In the morning meeting in which chiefs of Congress's frontal wings like Mahila Congress, Youth Congress, NSUI and Seva Dal participated, Gandhi asked the leaders to connect with the masses as part of the ongoing effort to strengthen the party following the Lok Sabha poll debacle.

One of the issues on which Gandhi was particularly focussed was how to widen the party's reach and connect with NGOs, employees' unions and other bodies. "The process which Gandhi has begun at the national level has to be taken to the states," Ahmed said.

PTI