Despite getting many setbacks in several states since 2014, the Congress is yet to learn from its mistake as it has been giving several key positions to same set leaders which is also nicknamed as ‘club of incharges’ who have failed to deliver in past.
The debate on the issue has gained momentum as Congress leadership is mulling the idea of appointing several general secretaries in-charge for several states as part of reshuffling.
To name a few, list includes the name of senior leaders like Mukul Wasnik, Randeep Singh Surjewala, Kumari Selja, Ajoy Kumar, Manickam Tagore, Jitendra Singh, Randeep Singh Surjewala, Devendra Yadav, Harish Chowdhury.
Wasnik, who hails from Maharashtra and is the party’s general secretary is currently serving as the incharge of Gujarat. He has earlier served as the incharge of Madhya Pradesh. He had earlier requested the party chief to relive him of duties of MP so that he can focus on the other party affairs.
Surjewala, who was the incharge of Karnataka and delivered a massive victory for the party in the southern state was also given the additional charge of Madhya Pradesh last year ahead of crucial assembly elections by replacing veteran party leader JP Agarwal. However, he too failed to deliver in Madhya Pradesh.
Selja, who was earlier general secretary in charge of Chhattisgarh, was appointed as incharge of Uttarakhand in December last year. She was made inchage of Uttarakhand and Sachin Pilot replaced her as incharge of the mineral rich state.
Despite against all the favorable reports of Congress coming to power again in Chhattisgarh, the party failed to deliver.
Similarly under Yadav, the Congress lost in Uttarakhand. However, he was made the incharge of Punjab and earlier this year he was also made the acting president of Delhi Congress.
Another example is of Ajoy Kumar, who was earlier the incharge of the northeastern states of Sikkim, Nagaland and Tripura, was given the charge of Odisha, and additional charge of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
Under Ajoy Kumar, the party failed to deliver in the northeastern states as well as in Odisha during the Lok Sabha and assembly polls earlier this year.
Similar is the curious case of Jitendra Singh, who had earlier served as the incharge of Assam, was given the additional charge of Madhya Pradesh. Another example in the list is of Mohan Prakash, who is currently the incharge of Bihar. He was also unable to deliver being the incharge of Maharashtra earlier.
Even Manickam Tagore was made incharge of Andhra Pradesh. He had earlier served as incharge of Goa and Telangana as well.
Manikrao Thakre, who was earlier in charge of Telangana, was given the charge of Goa, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli in December last year.
Meanwhile, besides the general secretary incharge there are several leaders who are repeatedly being given important tasks. The list includes the names of Ajay Maken, Bhupesh Baghel, Ashok Gehlot, TS Singh Deo, Salman Khurshid, Madhusudan Mistry and others.
Despite learning from the past mistakes where the party had lost in last five years, the party announced fact finding committee to discuss the reasons for loss. The party recently said that it will announce a fact finding committee to discuss the loss in Haryana assembly polls. However, the report of the fact finding committee on Assam, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and other state losses are yet to be released.
Even in party, sources indicate that the reason for such a pool of leaders is due to lack of accountability over loyalty is most preferred.
