Newly appointed Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi has made amply clear that henceforth it would be vital to “not just affix responsibility but also accountability as well.”
Gandhi met Congress office bearers for a second consecutive day at the AICC headquarters to get an understanding of the organizational challenges facing the party. The Congress scion who took charge at the party’s Chintan Shivir at Jaipur, had already spoken about his roadmap for the party in the run up to 2014.
“Every senior leader who recommends a candidate for a ticket would also need to take responsibility for it,” Gandhi had said. Today addressing the 57 Congress functionaries Gandhi said that he sensed that everyone wanted “greater transparency and improvement” in the organization. This process he said, “would need to be well thought through and may take some time. But we cannot afford to take hasty decisions.”
While yesterday 19 people spoke, the majority office bearers who spoke were General Secretaries, today 13 Secretaries expressed their views.
Gandhi had urged the members present there to speak “frankly and openly.” He said while some measures to revamp the organization would be “immediate” most steps would be with a long term perspective in mind.
While several Congress men raised the issue of indiscipline and rebel candidates which has been a major headache for the party, senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has proposed that one-man-one-post should be implemented in the party.
Gandhi who has started taking an active role in the party’s working after being officially appointed as VP is keen to hear out the views of a cross section of party workers. As all members present have not spoken , it was decided that the meeting would continue on Monday as well.