UDUPI: If the Congress cadre does not let go of exhibitionism and work hard at booth level, there is no way the party will be able to take on the BJP in the next polls, warned veteran Congress leader M Veerappa Moily.
Mincing no words at the Nava Sankalp Shibir held in Udupi on Friday, Moily said none of the protests held by Congress units at the national, state or district level will come to the party’s rescue if they try to settle for just protests and rallies.
When some leaders present at the event tried to tell Moily that he should not be so critical of the party workers, the senior leader hardened his stance saying, ‘’This is why we get defeated in polls. In a workshop like this, it is key to discuss the reality before us. Mere sloganeering will not build a party.’’
Moily: Have 15 to 25 foot soldiers for each booth
Moily also said that the rank and file of the Congress party have failed to enlighten people on the achievements of previous Congress governments. “Each booth should have at least 15 to 25 foot soldiers enrolled as members and workshops should be held to boost the morale of party workers,’’ he said.
Six groups of the party attended the district-level shibir. In a strong message to leaders of frontal organisations of the Congress, Moily said election has to be fought by managing each booth in a sensitive manner. “If a sincere and hard working party cadre is not trained at the booth level, it will have a negative impact during the elections,’’ Moily said.
Moily cited the example of Chikkaballapur where he said booth-level party workers were well-oriented. This way, the BJP’s juggernaut can be be stopped and there is no future for the party if it fails to reorganise itself, he said. Moily also claimed that the present Narendra Modi-led NDANDANDA government has done nothing but renamed some of the UPA’s flagship programmes.
Stressing that the Congress cadre should never deviate from its path of being connected with the grassroots, Moily said in rural pockets, people support the Congress for its pro-people initiatives that have generated jobs for a large chunk of youths.
KPCC working president R Dhruvanarayan said that the membership drive of the party was not taken seriously by the District Congress Committee in Udupi and added that there was still enough time to resume the drive to increase party membership. He also stressed on the urgent need for appointing office bearers to frontal organizations like SC, ST, OBC committees at the block level.