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Mind-Boggling Exercise
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Contest,
yes, Malice, no
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While the media has been consistently misrepresenting the Congress party in elections, the fact needs to be appreciated that it is in itself a massive exercise. Perhaps the magnitude of the exercise is too mind boggling for a layman to understand. In my view it is no way less than a general election save the fact that instead of official government machinery, the rank and file of the Congress under the guidance of the Central Election Authority conducts elections at each unit, each polling station of the country. It is an amusing sight to see workers in the friendly contest for becoming Block Congress committee delegates and unit presidents. The next step entailing elections of district Congress committee delegates, block Congress committee delegates from within the unit presidents and block Congress committee delegates leads to friendly fights in each of the 9,000 blocks in the country. To comprehend the logistics of our party elections, the elections in each village, mohalla of the country and the friendly contests but hard fought that take place, is hard for a non-Congressman to understand. I am sure that if our 1st president, Shri Womesh Chandra Banerjee and general secretary, Shri A.O. Hume, were alive today, tears would fill their eyes and their chests would fill with pride on seeing the dream they had conceptualised grew into one of the greatest political organisations of the world, and the smoothness with which it conducts its elections.
- Satyendar Kumar |
It was painful to see Mr. Jitendra Prasada challenging Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, for two reasons. First, this presidential election is taking place at a time when the party is facing one of the biggest challenges in its 115-year old history. The Congress party has weathered many a storm and will come out of this too in flying colours. But this hope should not lead leaders to be reckless, to say the least. The nation today is at crossroads - the Congress is yet to come up to the level of forming a government at the Centre and no other party is strong enough to play the role of an alternative party like in America or Britain. Splinter groups calling themselves as parties are too small to be taken seriously except as 'Masala parties' which can only change the 'taste' of a government. That being so if the Congress does not remain united the future of the Indian political system and democracy can be in danger. Secondly, a contest is certainly welcome but it should be without malice. There was no need for Mr. Prasada to make allegations which are baseless and lack credibility. The coterie charge coming from one who himself was a powerful member of a so-called coterie under two Congress presidents is rather too much to stomach. We, the workers of the party, hope that once the contest is over, everyone will forget bygones and work unitedly.
- K.R.K. Murthy Jharkhand, Rajiv's Dream The passage of the Jharkhand Bill has given shape to the dreams of Rajiv Gandhi and the propagator of Jharkhand, Late Gyanranjan, and fulfilled the long-standing demands of the people of the region. There have been celebrations all over the state when the Bill was passed in the Parliament. Meetings and victory marches under the banner of the Congress were held to mark the occasion. The people thanked the Congress party, especially its president, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, for this great achievement and her effort to reach out to the people. -
Om Prakash Singh, |