Cong for performance, not politics

Things are hotting up in Uttar Pradesh, and with a new UPCC chief in place, the Congress is finally exploring possibilities of toppling Mayawati and forming an alternative government in the state.

But neither UP nor alliance politics nor Arjun Singh8217;s outburst will find any place in the proceedings at the two-day Srinagar Conclave that begins tomorrow. Instead, the buzzword is 8216;8216;governance8217;8217; 8212; and the style: focused, brisk and businesslike, say Congressmen, busy finalising the documents for the meet.

The purpose of the Chief Ministers8217; conclave at Srinagar 8212; the fifth in the series since Sonia Gandhi took the initiative to focus on the performance of Congress state governments as the main plank of the party8217;s strategy 8212; is to review the implementation of the 8216;8216;Action Plan8217;8217; that was finalised at the last CMs8217; conclave in Mount Abu.

Unlike in Mount Abu where experts addressed the CMs, there will be no outsiders at Srinagar. In fact, there will be few insiders either. The participants will be confined to the 15 CMs of Congress-ruled states, AICC general secretaries in charge of these states, and a handful of others who are concerned with specific programme implementation committees. The total will not exceed 40, a fraction of the number who usually throng a political party8217;s meet.

Salman Khurshid, one of the key persons looking after planning and coordination, said in view of the overall political situation, a little bit of politics might be discussed in the sidelines. 8216;8216;The sole purpose is not to discuss election strategy; it is to look at our governance record.8217;8217;

At Mount Abu, the Action Plan focused on 18 specific areas which individual state governments were asked to focus on. They included food security, watershed management, power reforms, agriculture, women8217;s empowerment, panchayati raj, fiscal reforms, e-governance, health and safe drinking water.

The Srinagar Conclave will discuss the action taken report ATR on these fronts and analyse how far the state governments have achieved the targets, the innovative schemes they have developed, and shortcomings that persist.

Unlike political jamborees where lengthy speeches and populist rhetoric is the order of the day, 8216;8216;Madam8217;8217; prefers focussed, interactive sessions where concrete development measures are discussed and targets set, Congressmen said. It also gives state governments a chance to learn from each other, and replicate successful programmes of one state in another.

The exercise may appear in line with Sonia8217;s efforts to turn the moribund and faction-ridden party into an activist NGO with a corporate culture, but there is a larger political purpose behind it. According to AICC secretary Tom Vadakkan, governance-oriented meets such as this serve as an 8216;8216;inoculation8217;8217; against anti-incumbency.

Whether the vaccine administered in the salubrious climes of Srinagar proves effective in the heat and dust of Delhi, Rajasthan, MP, and Chhattisgarh, remains to be seen.