It has been reported that the Congress is planning a major overhaul, preparatory to which it will hold a national conference of its district unit presidents in Delhi. The last time an inclusive conference of this kind was held was in 2009, which, it is thought, led to a good outcome in terms of electoral results that year. It is being thought that revitalising the party at the district level in the shape of refurbishing the District Congress Committees (DCCs) is necessary to get the party out of the doldrums it finds itself in. It is possible that below the district level, too, a revamp of the block-level party structures can be undertaken to strengthen the party. The problem is that there are no functioning DCCs in many places, and in many places they are moribund. If the Congress leadership chooses to go down the route of nominating DCCs and their office-bearers, an opportunity will have been lost. It is true that in many places where the organisation has become virtually defunct, the principle of selection can be used as a temporary measure. But even in the medium term, the Congress leadership should try to undertake membership drives so that properly elected committees can be elected block level upwards. Only that can revive the Congress on a stable basis. We should remember that there is an urgent necessity for the revival of the Congress because it is the only national party in the fray, and it must play the starring role in providing an alternative to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Let’s begin with the foundations. DCCs and Pradesh Congress Committees (PCCs) have historically played a crucial role in making the Congress organisation function like a well-oiled machine. Apart from being empowered to discharge an array of functions, it was at the block and district levels, under the supervision of the PCCs, that salient political mobilisations and membership drives were undertaken. It was after the Congress split in 1969 that existing trends towards organisational atrophy were expedited. Ultimately, they fell into disarray, with strong leaders concentrating power in their hands. For a while, this worked because there was no nationwide party capable of opposing the Congress systematically. This kind of a model isn’t working; a thoroughgoing revival is needed to fight a party that works like a smooth machine for electoral and general mobilisations countrywide. While building from the bottom, the Congress must also revive institutions like the Parliamentary Board, which has an important function. Finally, the elective principle must be honoured—for instance, when it comes to constituting a lean and trim working committee—to make the organisation democratic. But it does appear that the Congress strategists are on the right track.