Congress’ new district presidents list spotlights productivity-based selection in Gujarat

After the Congress party announced its much-awaited list of district presidents for Gujarat, party leaders clarified that this had been done to increase grassroots engagement, keeping in mind their “capacity” and “operational efficiency”.

“The party seems to have considered the workability factor more”, an ex-legislator in Gujarat said, “which means those who have been made district presidents will be goal-oriented and will be able to mobilise people in their respective districts”.

However, two leaders holding official positions in the Gujarat Congress claimed that there are still around 10 district presidents (out of 40) whose appointments don’t tick the right boxes. 

The state has 33 districts, but the grand old party has 40 district units distributed across the state for administrative convenience and deeper grassroots connect. 

Yet, women leaders in the party claim that there is not enough representation of women in the list, as only one woman, Sonal Patel, has been handed the charge of Ahmedabad District. 

“The Party did think about it—there were competent women in the Congress camp—but they may not have been able to deal with the ground cadre sufficiently in their respective regions,” a senior Congress leader said.

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According to AICC leaders, the focus is on the implementation of instructions being sent down to district presidents. 

Notably, the party is trying to cultivate a parallel structure of accountability through nodal officers who will directly report to the national war room through a certain communication channel. Consequently, the reports will hold non-performing district presidents responsible for not accomplishing their tasks.

With new appointments in 35 districts as they have retained 5 district presidents, the grand old party is trying to re-launch its cadre-activity at a higher magnitude. The aim here is said to be training its grassroots workers and increasing its street politics to land better numbers in the 2027 Gujarat assembly elections.

The model initiative is expected to bring a well-defined structure to the party and also establish clarity among its ground cadre. 

“The efforts will be put to establish solid communication channels and strengthen coordination,” Congress chief spokesperson (Gujarat) Manish Doshi said.

India