The strength of the organisational set-ups of the BJP and the Congress, locked in a direct contest on almost all the ten Lok Sabha seats in Haryana, could be an important difference between the two parties impacting the fortunes of their candidates in the elections due next month in the State.
Following Gujarat, MP
While the BJP is in the process of appointing Panna Pramukhs (page in-charges) in Haryana, on the lines of similar appointments in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, to increase interaction with the voters at the micro-level, the organisational set-up of Congress, on the other hand, has been in disarray in the State for almost five years now with no party units even at the district and block levels.
Known to be a cadre-based party, the BJP, which came to power in Haryana on its own for the first time in 2014, had invested a lot of energy in strengthening its organisational set-up over the last five years, said BJP leader and Haryana Dairy Development Co-operative Federation Limited chairman G.L. Sharma. He added that the saffron party had units comprising 11, 21 and 31 workers at booth, Shakti Kendra (comprising 7-8 booths) and Mandal (comprising 70-80 booths) levels respectively, besides the district and State units. “We have also appointed Panna Pramukhs at approximately 40% booths in Haryana. The process was initiated four months ago,” said Mr. Sharma.
Senior party leaders, including BJP national president Amit Shah, have on several occasions held meetings with the office-bearers of these units in the State.
Boon to new candidates
The presence of the organisational set-up not only helped propagate the policies of the party all through the year, but also proved useful during the elections with the booth-level teams ensuring that the party’s supporters come out to cast their votes on the election day, said Mr. Sharma. “It helps the new candidates the most. For instance, our Rohtak candidate Arvind Sharma, who is new to the constituency, would be benefited by the presence of the organisational set-up,” said Mr. Sharma.
Seeking to downplay the significance of the formal set-up, Congress’ Gurugram Lok Sabha candidate Capt. Ajay Yadav said that most of the Lok Sabha candidates of his party are seasoned leaders having contested several times before and had their own teams of dedicated cadres.
“I have been active in Gurugram Lok Sabha for the last over three years and have teams till the booth-level. Of the around 2,400 booths, I already have the list of workers for almost a thousand booths,” claimed Mr. Yadav.
Another Congress leader, on condition of anonymity, said the district and block units of the party were dissolved after Ashok Tanwar took over as the State president in 2014. But new appointments could not be made owing to factionalism. “Though the party units were dissolved in Punjab, Delhi and Rajasthan as well following the 2014 elections, but were reinstated later. In Haryana, however, the organisation remained in disarray mostly because the central leadership did not evince much interest in reinstating it,” said the leader.
Harms Cong’s interest
Though senior party leaders, including former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, party president Ashok Tanwar and Congress legislative party chief Kiran Choudhary, have travelled across the State holding rallies and meetings over the last few years interacting with the masses, the lack of formal organisational set-up has indeed harmed the interests of the party in the State, the leader said.
