First deadline 14 days away, Congress grand rehaul faces trials and errors in pilot state Gujarat

The final nod rests with the high command.

And that’s not the only thing that makes it reminiscent of all things Congress, particularly in a state where the party has been out of power for 30 years, where a good lot of its members have been switching to the BJP since 2017, and where 41 districts are proving a mountain to climb.

The exercise was launched from Modasa in Aravalli district in the presence of Rahul Gandhi on April 16. The panel of six names per district is to be readied by May 10.

To begin with, the Congress ran into a jam over PCC observers. At least six-seven of the 183 had to be replaced after realisation hit that they were district presidents themselves, and hence could not be a part of the panel to pick new ones. Then, a recent meeting of the Ahmedabad district unit saw open allegations thrown at a sitting MLA and an ex-MLA of “being up with the BJP”. Congress sources admit this should have been anticipated as claims regarding the same have been swirling since July last year.

President of the Ahmedabad City DCC and ex-MLA Himmatsinh Patel, who was dropped as an observer and is among those facing allegations of “hobnobbing with the BJP”, says: “Where is the evidence? If that were the case, would I have won Assembly elections after 23 years?” Patel, who was elected from Ahmedabad East in 2017, adds: “We are not decision makers; I don’t distribute tickets. We are those who do dharnas, and I’m facing so many cases that my passport is with police.”

On Saturday, another verbal duel, this time between Ahmedabad City Youth Congress Vishal Singh Gurjar and a youth leader, in the presence of AICC observer B K Hariprasad, led to the suspension of Gurjar.

Mevani’s exasperation flows from his own disagreement with the choice of certain observers who, according to him, lack any political standing of their own, or have “compromised with the BJP”. Given that the Congress has lost four of its total 17 MLAs to the BJP since the 2022 Assembly elections, such suspicions have many takers.

“No wonder, the BJP is involved in the selection of DCCs,” Mevani bursts out, telling The Indian Express: “We want the compromised people to be removed, the sooner the better. The selection process is in blatant disregard of what the AICC and Rahul Gandhi had in mind… The AICC is not at fault, it is the Gujarat leadership of the Congress that is responsible.”

Former MLA Bharat Makwana, a PCC observer in Junagadh district, also talks of claims of favouritism comprising “a majority of the complaints”. However, he adds: “The overall response from the grassroots has been good… The Congress has always been a movement and has run its offices with whatever funds it gets. The BJP has a well-oiled machinery and a lot of money.”

Gujarat Congress chief and Rajya Sabha MP Shaktisinh Gohil says if someone has proof about any leader dabbling with another party, they should come forward. “There is no X-ray (to see who is compromised). Someone with political enmity with someone may say so… but we cannot act without proper information.”

Gohil admits hiccups such as existing DCC chiefs being picked as observers, but adds that they followed the rules. He says many leaders themselves showed disinterest in becoming observers. Besides, he adds, the exercise is meant for the long term. “We are not just picking presidents for DCCs but preparing a pool for any upcoming posts.”

An Ahmedabad Congress leader seconds this. “A political party should always be busy… In our case, many routine activities have not happened all these years, unlike in the BJP, which keeps its workers busy. At least this exercise will end up oiling the machine.”

Those more optimistic say the impact will be visible when by-elections are announced for the vacant Assembly seats of Vav and Visvadar. While Vav Congress MLA Geniben Thakor resigned to contest and win the Lok Sabha elections (making her the party’s only MP from Gujarat), Visvadar seat had been won by the Aam Aadmi Party’s Bhupendra Bhayani, who quit to join the BJP. The AAP has already announced Gopal Italia, who lost the 2022 Assembly polls, as its Visvadar candidate.

With Visvadar falling under Junagadh district where he is involved in the DCC elections, Makwana says: “We will certainly be able to pick a contender from this panel of six… It will be a three-way fight (including the AAP and BJP).”