The ‘non-fighter’ tasked with reviving UP Congress

Besides,they feel,it is a break from the hardcore caste politics the Congress tried in the recent Assembly elections,unsuccessfully. Khatri is a grandson of veteran socialist leader Acharya Narendra Dev,one of the founders of the Congress Socialist Party.

“Having experimented during the recent Assembly election with outsiders and non-cadre people,the party has taken the right decision in selecting a man who believes in working in coordination with the cadres rather than building his own force unlike many other leaders,” said Karuna Shanker Mishra,Congress district president of Faizabad.

Mishra described how Khatri took cadres into confidence before any decision,including his own election. When in Faizabad,he is easily approachable and holds public hearings at home almost every day,Mishra said.

One worry,however,is how much time he can manage for his new responsibility. “He works hard,but he had a problem in his spinal cord and thus could not sit for long time. He seems to be better now and was even visiting localities in his constituency,” said a Congress leader from Faizabad.

The biggest of Khatri’s immediate challenges is rebuilding the party and inspiring cadres for 2014 after the humiliating Assembly poll defeat. Amid the importance then given to senior leaders who had recently joined the party,the most obvious example being Beni Prasad Verma,many Congress cadres in the state had stopped taking initiatives. Later,senior leaders variously blamed the “organisation”, “weak cadres” and “infighting”. This demoralised old loyalists: they had first been neglected and were then being blamed.

Moreover,in the five months since the Samjwadi Party formed the government,the Congress has failed to provide a sense of direction to the cadres. Nor has it raised important issues strongly.

Many believe that the choice of Khatri,who is an old loyalist,should give cadres a new confidence. But he will have to work around the uncertainty among cadres about the Congress’s stance towards the Samajwadi Party,given the bonhomie between the two parties at the Centre. He will also have to maintain a balance between the old loyalists and the recent entrants.

Ironically,in a state which has the Lok Sabha constituencies of both the Congress president and her son,the party has had a hard time with “infighting” and “groupism” for the past few years. For example,the differences between former Congress Legislature Party leader Pramod Tiwari and outgoing state president Joshi had split the party down the line. The rivalries were open,cooperation almost non-existent. Though partymen agree Khatri does not belong to any group,making them work together will test the skills he is known for.