The biggest challenge before the Congress in Haryana is to win back the trust of the masses, said Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president and former Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar, speaking to The Hindu . He spoke about the prospects of the party and the challenges it faces in the upcoming Assembly elections.
Seeking a third consecutive term, the Congress has been bogged down by in-fighting and exodus of its senior leaders to other parties, especially the Bharatiya Janata Party. Mr. Tanwar, who was appointed party chief early this year, however, said the public and the workers meets organised since the Lok Sabha elections had won the party over five lakh new members in the State and the party was able to regain the lost ground to a large extent.
“We are better prepared than the Lok Sabha elections where we started late. The party has become stronger at booth-level and the electronic, the print and the social media are being extensively used to reach out to the masses and disseminate our achievements over the past nine years,” said Mr. Tanwar, sounding confident of registering a first major victory for the party since the Lok Sabha debacle.
On the growing demands for leadership change post-Lok Sabha polls, Mr. Tanwar said the Congress had the best leadership in the State in terms of experience, stature and performance and added that it was “not an opportune time” for such demands. Mr. Tanwar added that “ticket distribution” held the key to the party’s prospects and ability to win will be the most important criterion for selecting the candidates. He said the list of candidates will be announced in the first week of September.
