The senior Congress leader and former Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, said on Saturday that the party should be headed by a popular leader to rejuvenate it at the grassroots and check the growth of the BJP.
Listing the Congress’s organisational weaknesses in different regions of the country, including Tamil Nadu, he said the party had to be strengthened at all levels.
His remarks come in the backdrop of reports that he may be made the next TNCC president.
Addressing a meeting of the Tiruchi District (South) Congress Committee, Mr. Chidambaram said the party could certainly regain its strength. However, it had to be rebuilt at all levels and required a well-known person as the State head. The party should also forge an alliance for elections.
Mr. Chidambaram said more than 50 per cent of the district committees did not have a proper set-up. Many of them had not been working well. Some were only on paper. Similar was the situation in 6,500 block units. There were no presidents or secretaries for many of the panchayat units. Many villages did not even have Congress committees. Moreover, most of the committees did not have members aged below 25, Mr. Chidambaram said. The poor organisational set-up snapped the link between the party and the people. The situation had to be changed, and he had already taken it up with the AICC leadership.
Calling upon the cadre to work for rebuilding the party, Mr. Chidambaram said they should not wait for anyone to form committees in the uncovered areas; they should select leaders among themselves.
