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Rahul Gandhi may oversee Congress revamp in UP as party looks to set 2027 plans in motion

After a decade of slowly losing its footprint in the key state, the Lok Sabha poll results gave the Congress hopes of revival. Starting now, it wants to build on those gains, get in shape for the next Assembly elections

Congress revamp in UP, Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Uttar Pradesh Congress, Lok Sabha elections, Indian express news, current affairs

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi with Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra hold the Constitution in their hands and wear masks that say "Modi-Adani bhai bhai." symbolising their protest over the Gautam Adani indictment issue during the Winter Session, at Parliament premises in New Delhi on Friday. (ANI Photo)

Setting the stage for a major organisational revamp in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress has dissolved its state and district committees. Sources said this decision, announced on Thursday, was an attempt to restructure the party on the ground before the Assembly polls in 2027 and build on the gains of the recent Lok Sabha elections when it increased its tally from one seat in 2019 to six.

Sources in the party said Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rae Bareli MP Rahul Gandhi could oversee the process. Wayanad MP and AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was the Congress’s UP in-charge till December 2023. The post has now been taken over by Avinash Pande.

“Revamping and restructuring is the most important part of any organisation. Most of the district and city committees were not revamped in the past five years. Some have not seen changes in the last seven years… We want to infuse new energy and build further on the gains of the Lok Sabha election,” said a senior party leader.

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Congress spokesperson Anshu Awasthi said the Congress was looking at a long-haul approach with the 2027 elections in mind. “The Congress will approach the 2027 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh with a completely new strategy … The people of the state are looking at the Congress with expectations. It is important to restructure the organisation in this regard. One by one, state working committees, district, city and block presidents would be declared one by one,” said Awasthi.

The Congress also admits there is course-correction to be done at the basic leadership level in UP. A senior Uttar Pradesh party leader said that even as yatras led by Gandhi and Priyanka attracted “crowds” in the past, they could not “convert into votes”. The leader said, “We need to take local equations into account and build strong units on the ground. That way, leaders will be proactive in taking the party’s message forward.”

The Congress has been losing its ground in Uttar Pradesh since the 1980s. In the 2022 Assembly polls, it was reduced to two MLAs out of 403 in the UP Assembly.

The changes, the Congress hopes, will help increase its presence and also play a role during alliance conversations. The party also hopes there could be more room for pushing for its leaders in individual strong seats during talks with allies in the future.

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In this year’s Lok Sabha polls, for example, the Congress had to settle for 17 seats. Then, in the recent bypolls, the Congress decided not to contest any of the nine seats and instead provided support to the SP.

The dissolved units include 800 block committees, 135 district and city committees, 130 state-level committees as well as all 46 cells and departments of various kinds.

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