Cong bets on org overhaul, but observers urge it to hit roads

Margao: With the 2027 assembly elections casting a long shadow, Congress launched its Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan, hoping the organisational exercise will pump fresh adrenaline into a rank and file that has been out of power for over 12 years. AICC observers fanned out across districts with a mandate to hand-pick new leadership and rebuild the party from the ground up.

Whether the effort amounts to more than paperwork is a question political observers are not yet willing to set aside. The initiative follows the recent AICC session in Ahmedabad and is being positioned as a nationwide organisational transformation campaign. In Goa, four AICC observers have been assigned a district each. The party carved out four districts — North Goa, Mhadei, South Goa, and Kushavati — at its organisational level, with presidents set to be appointed by the first week of March.


AICC observer Vijay Inder Singla, stationed in Kushavati, is touring constituencies, meeting party workers, and circulating application forms for DCC president positions. He promises a cleaner, more accountable structure. “New presidents will face three-month reviews. Those not performing will be replaced. Caste representation will be factored in. Six names per district will go to the central leadership,” Singla told reporters.

The party also plans to revamp political affairs committees and executive committees at the district level — a structural shift intended to ensure local issues are debated and raised by party cadres at the district level, rather than being catapulted into state-level politics, as has often been the case.

Political analyst Prabhakar Timble acknowledges the intent, but sounds sceptical about the outcome. “Theoretically, the proposed measures are better. Even if it results in superficial changes, it is welcome — Congress needs some alterations, if not dramatic ones,” he said. His sharper concern, though, is internal. “The basic issue is the growing bickerings pouncing to share the shrinking size of their cake. Unless they smell and taste power in 2027, they will all be dead.”

Political observer Cleofato Coutinho cuts to the chase. “It should not be a desk and table exercise. Outreach has to be on the roads,” he said. With several public movements currently active in Goa, Coutinho argues the party must engage visibly. “They should publicly identify with those movements. Agreed, they may not have the organisational strength to lead them — but they should at least piggyback.”

An oiled machine, as Coutinho implies, still needs to move — “because time is running out”.