Pranab prescription: Unite, fix responsibility

Drawing lessons for the Lok Sabha elections ahead, the report has warned against a ‘‘Congress defeating Congress’’ scenario, as was evident in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The committee also identifies ‘‘adverse effects of social engineering’’ that led to a dent in the party’s SC- ST votebank in the western and central regions. It does, however, see good results for the general elections in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, provided the party comes up with strategic alliances and good election management.

The committee came down heavily on leaders pushing for their ‘‘kith and kin’’ at the time of distribution of tickets. For the Lok Sabha elections, party leaders should be ‘‘put on alert that they will be held accountable for candidates whose cause they champion’’, the report said.

The committee has given a month’s time for the party to put together an alliance by starting ‘‘negotiations at multi-state, regional, state or sub-regional levels’’ with ‘‘a national strategy’’.

Drawing a blueprint for a ‘‘secular, progressive alliance’’, the report said candidates for the Lok Sabha elections must be announced ‘‘as soon as they are chosen instead of waiting till the last minute’’.

Senior party leader Mani Shanker Aiyer, a member of the committee, said: ‘‘The anti-CM factor played a role in the margin of votes between the parties. Which is why we have said that the reverses are not irreversible.’’

In Chhattisgarh, the committee charged former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi of ‘‘snatching defeat from the jaws of victory’’.

While criticising Jogi’s ‘‘personality and leadership style’’, the report admits ‘‘the personal foibles of the CM should not blind us to the real achievements of Chhattisgarh under the Congress in the last three years’’.

The verdict is lighter on Digvijay Singh as of the total vote share the Congress lost in Madhya Pradesh, only one-third went to the BJP, two-thirds to the BSP, and the rest to the Samajwadi Party and Gondwana Ganatantra Parishad (GGP). ‘‘An alliance with the BSP and the GGP would have more than compensated for the loss of 9 per cent vote-share in the state,’’ Aiyer said.

In Rajasthan, the ‘desire’ system evolved by Ashok Gehlot under which MLAs were allowed a decisive say in postings and transfers of school teachers and government servants’’ which worked against an ‘‘otherwise much-admired state government’’.

The report also recommends an overhaul of election campaign strategies, including use of ‘‘national and regional satellite channels and citi cables’’ for promotion programmes.