The Congress is all set to strengthen its organization in Himachal Pradesh with the party leadership today approving massive expansion of cadre strength at the grassroots level.
Following a proposal by Himachal Pradesh Congress president Sukhwinder Sukhu, party chief Sonia Gandhi today approved the constitution of 17 new block Congress committees. An order to this effect was issued by Congress general secretary in charge of organization Janardan Dwivedi.
With the approval of these new blocks, the Congress will now have a presence in 85 blocks across state’s districts. Prior to this, the state organization has 68 block Congress Committees – one per assembly segment.
Politics at the block level in Himachal has been bitter in the past especially since Sukhu dissolved 34 blocks where the rival BJP had scored more than 5,000 votes in the last Lok Sabha elections. The blocks have since been reconstituted.
The freshly approved 17 blocks will be constituted in Shimla, Solan, Kangra, Kinnaur, Lahaul Spiti and Kullu.
Sukhu, who yesterday met Congress President Sonia Gandhi to discuss party organization in Himachal, confirmed to The Tribune when contacted that 17 new blocks had been approved.
He said presidents to the new blocks will be shortly appointed after seeking three nominations for each from leaders who belong to the region.
Asked what the new approval means for party organization in the state, Sukhu said, “The idea is to strengthen the Congress at the grassroots. So far we have had only one block per Assembly constituency. This hampers our organizational reach. Himachal districts are very vast and the terrain is challenging. We were finding it hard to connect to people over vast swathes. Now instead of one block per segment, we will have three in some areas like Lahaul Spiti and Kinnaur. This will boost party presence in the state. The move is in line with Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s thought of enhancing participative processes.”
The approvals came after Congress general secretary for Himachal Ambika Soni recommended the same. The party sources said they were ready to face some amount of dissent on the new approvals but were equally braced to contain rebellion should there be any.
Recently, Sukhu had similarly constituted additional district Congress committees inviting the wrath of senior leaders from within the state Congress. While Kangra saw the establishment of three committees as against one previously, Mandi saw an addition of one. Now Kangra has four district committees and Mandi has two.
Following a proposal by Himachal Pradesh Congress president Sukhwinder Sukhu, party chief Sonia Gandhi today approved the constitution of 17 new block Congress committees. An order to this effect was issued by Congress general secretary in charge of organization Janardan Dwivedi.
With the approval of these new blocks, the Congress will now have a presence in 85 blocks across state’s districts. Prior to this, the state organization has 68 block Congress Committees – one per assembly segment.
Politics at the block level in Himachal has been bitter in the past especially since Sukhu dissolved 34 blocks where the rival BJP had scored more than 5,000 votes in the last Lok Sabha elections. The blocks have since been reconstituted.
The freshly approved 17 blocks will be constituted in Shimla, Solan, Kangra, Kinnaur, Lahaul Spiti and Kullu.
Sukhu, who yesterday met Congress President Sonia Gandhi to discuss party organization in Himachal, confirmed to The Tribune when contacted that 17 new blocks had been approved.
He said presidents to the new blocks will be shortly appointed after seeking three nominations for each from leaders who belong to the region.
Asked what the new approval means for party organization in the state, Sukhu said, “The idea is to strengthen the Congress at the grassroots. So far we have had only one block per Assembly constituency. This hampers our organizational reach. Himachal districts are very vast and the terrain is challenging. We were finding it hard to connect to people over vast swathes. Now instead of one block per segment, we will have three in some areas like Lahaul Spiti and Kinnaur. This will boost party presence in the state. The move is in line with Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s thought of enhancing participative processes.”
The approvals came after Congress general secretary for Himachal Ambika Soni recommended the same. The party sources said they were ready to face some amount of dissent on the new approvals but were equally braced to contain rebellion should there be any.
Recently, Sukhu had similarly constituted additional district Congress committees inviting the wrath of senior leaders from within the state Congress. While Kangra saw the establishment of three committees as against one previously, Mandi saw an addition of one. Now Kangra has four district committees and Mandi has two.
