Cong mulls a senior gen secy to streamline work

However, AICC sources say a final decision may be taken only after the results of the crucial Himachal Pradesh polls at the end of this month.

The party now has two political secretaries, six general secretaries and 26 secretaries. It had Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna as senior general secretary or ‘secretary general’ in 1979 under Indira Gandhi’s leadership when he returned to the party fold after serving in the Janata Party Government.

The option again seems to have come up in view of the fact the party is in power in 15 states, including J-K, and eight of them are going to elections this year alone.

The Congress is not only going to face the incumbency factor in all these states, but also coming after Gujarat, it would be test of survival for the party.

Interestingly, state Pradesh Congress Committees, especially where Congress is in power, are usually at loggerheads with the government and that hampers in translating the achievements of the government into votes.

Also, most of the states need a high-level coordination committee to set the matters right between the chief ministers and the PCCs.

Usually, the general secretary incharge of the state in the AICC chairs the committee. And, traditionally, that has only made the local leaders seeking to come to the Capital with complaints against their detractors. While the AICC says such committees help in keeping the chief ministers and the PCCs ‘‘on their toes’’, state leaders feel it creates a scope for further factionalism.

In view of this, the party recently announced a convention of the block presidents from all over the country in March in Delhi, a move expected to rejuvenate the lower level functionaries and get them directly in touch with the party high command. The reorganisation of the party is also expected to look into delegating the work of the general secretaries who have additional charges and may see an increase in the number of the general secretaries and secretaries.