'Shunt' usual faces, revamp CWC and state units: Abhishek Singhvi

NEW DELHI: New younger state leaders should be brought in, CWC revamped and "usual faces" "shunted" to advisory roles, Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi suggested today while maintaining that the talk of "surgery" in the organisation is "never about unifocal look at leadership".

Singhvi, who is a Congress spokesperson, in a series of tweets said that party men do not shrug off results in the Assembly polls as "business as usual".
"No genuine loyal Congman shrugs off results as OK or business as usual. Apart from incumbency & cyclical factors v will analyse & have new ideas," he tweeted.
Among the steps he suggested was a "new" Congress Working Committee, the apex decision making body of the party, "new" general secretaries and early declaration of candidates.

"Surgery never abt unifocal look at leadership. Includes specifics-3 & 6 mth prior declaration of MLA/MP candidates; new younger state faces (eg pilot in raj); new Gen secys; new cwc; micro mgmt; 50% pure merit & 50% region, caste etc; shunt usual faces/ names to advisory roles". Taking a dig at the BJP, he also said, "Congress is a banyan tree giving widest shade without discrimination on basis of caste creed sex origin. Unlike elective biases of some others."

Singhvi's remarks are significant as two days back Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh had made a strong pitch for "major surgery" in the organisation in the backdrop of the electoral debacle in four states.

Seeking to lift the party's morale, Congress President Sonia Gandhi had yesterday asserted that "no failure is permanent" while Singh pitched for handing over power to the youth in the organisation, saying there is "no option" as the party is "facing challenges" in the backdrop of its drubbing in the recent Assembly polls.

Echoing Singhvi's views on revamping major bodies, former Union Minister V Kishore Chandra Deo too pitched for sending over a dozen senior leaders, whom he accused of "misleading" party chief Sonia Gandhi, on a compulsory holiday.

He said "15-20 leaders" should be sent on a compulsory holiday for "a few years". This was necessary as they "play the musical chair" in the organisation, either in the AICC or as PCC chiefs, or become Union Ministers if the party is in power, he said.

"They are misleading the leadership, even Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. If the leadership gets wrong information, what results you can expect?" he said, adding compulsory holiday should extend to "a few years".