Congress eyes major shake-up in states after Karnataka power shift, to rebuild I.N.D.I.A. bloc

New Delhi: After settling the vexatious leadership tussle in Karnataka, the Congress ‘High Command’ will now be looking at organisational changes in a clutch of states as well as strengthening the Opposition bloc following the exit of DMK.

Trinamool Congress has already approached the Congress seeking a meeting of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc as early as June 6, as its leaders and cadre, including National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee facing assault during a visit to a family of a partyman who was killed.

Though he has not broken his silence on Left parties against which he had levelled serious allegations, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha was quick to come to the aid of Abhishek and called him as well as party chief Mamata Banerjee offering all help.

The proposal is on the table but a final call on the meeting is yet to be taken, sources said citing the leadership’s pre-occupation with Rajya Sabha election preparations and discussions on organisational changes in Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and some other states.

The party is also planning an aggressive campaign against the government on the education front with Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi leading from the front on NEET and CBSE issues, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of destroying India’s education sector and demanding Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation.

However, the immediate task will be to finalise candidates for upcoming Rajya Sabha polls, whose deadline for filing nominations is on June 8. Congress managers are in intense discussions with allies in Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand for seats.

Amid intense lobbying, the leadership will also have to pacify lost-out aspirants and ensure that there is no cross-voting. They will also have to decide on the state leadership in both Kerala and Karnataka where the existing leadership has moved to government posts.

The changes made in Goa by bringing Girish Chodankar, who is Congress in-charge in Tamil Nadu, back as state chief has not gone down well with a section. Chodankar’s exit is being read as a signal for a reshuffle at the central level.

Another headache will be the Punjab unit where leaders like Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Partap Singh Bajwa, Charanjit Singh Channi and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa are said to be working at cross-purpose even when the polls are less than nine months away.

A recent leadership meeting saw sparks flying with Punjab leaders mincing no words in attacking each other even in the presence of Rahul and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge.

In the coming days, the party will also be focussing on Uttar Pradesh where it would be in a hard bargain with Samajwadi Party over seats to contest. It will be holding a meeting of Extremely Backward Classes in Lucknow in mid-June.