"It is important that the party gets its organisation in shape first in every state and then put together a national programme as well as a state-specific programme," Chidambaram told TV news channel Times Now.
"Even Lok Sabha elections are not contested on a purely national programme. They are contested in each state on a national programme but that has to be nuanced to respond to the concerns of people of that state."
"I mean once you get a programme of that kind, where we are in government, we should be able to tell people what we have done.
"Where we are in opposition, we should expose the government of the day and tell how we could have done better. These are different roles. It is a very complex set of challenges," he said.
Asked if there was a leadership deficit at the grassroots level, Chidambaram said: "That is not correct. There are lots of workers. What is absent is organsiation. Once you put together an organisation, leaders will emerge".
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Observing that there was a need for the young generation to take over the reigns of the Congress, he said: "We need to get people in their 30s and 40s in the leadership".
On whether coalition governments had become the norm, he said: "Realistically, it is difficult for any party. But that doesn't mean a party should not aim to win absolute majority".
On parties using social media, he said it "is a very recent addition".
"It is largely urban-oriented. Therefore, parties are slow to react...I think we are not unaware...we would discuss. But beyond the social media, there is a large section of youth who need to be communicated through the traditional media".
"There are some states where we are out of power for sometime. For example, Tamil Nadu. Those are the states where the climb would be very very steep".