Cong's organisational structure weakened due to vacancies in depts, cells

The Congress is not only facing a crisis in its top leadership but its organisational structure has also been weakened as several departments and cells have remained headless for long, party sources said.

They, however, asserted that the process of appointments will speed up once the leadership crisis is resolved.

Voices are emerging from several quarters within the Congress on the leadership issue with many leaders, including Shashi Tharoor and Sandeep Dikshit, demanding fresh polls to the top post in the party.

Sonia Gandhi was appointed as the interim Congress president in August last year after Rahul Gandhi resigned taking moral responsibility for the party's Lok Sabha poll debacle.

Several party departments and cells have been leaderless for a while, causing some of them to become almost defunct, the party sources said.

Activities of Civic and Social Outreach Congress, Training Department, among others, have been on hold for a long time, they said.

"Since the Civic and Social Outreach Congress was set up in September 2018 under the leadership of senior party leader Madhusudan Mistry, the department has conducted only one programme. Even coordinators and state-level office bearers haven't been appointed yet. It is the same situation in many other party departments and cells," a source said.

According to the sources, Legal, Human Rights and RTI department, All India Adivasi Congress and All India Kisan Congress have also been headless for a long time.

Legal department head Vivek Tankha resigned in June last year after the Congress drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls.

The All India Adivasi Congress has remained leaderless for a year now. Former Union minister Kishor Chandra Dev resigned as the chairman of the party's tribal wing in February last year.

Another important party cell, All India Kisan Congress, has been functioning without a chief since its chairman Nana Patole quit in June last year. He was elected as the Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly in November.

Chiefs of some departments are playing a dual role.

Congress OBC department chairman Tamradhwaj Sahu is also the home minister of Chhattisgarh.

Similarly, Congress Scheduled Caste department chairman Nitin Raut is also the power minister of Maharashtra.

Speculation is rife that the party will appoint new chiefs for the two departments.

According to the sources, several posts in many other departments are lying vacant.

The process of appointments at various levels of the organisation will pick up pace after the uncertainty over who will lead the Congress subsides, they added.

Asked about the vacant posts, a senior Congress leader told PTI, "The process is underway to revamp the organisation with new appointments at various levels. The vacant positions will be filled up in the coming days."

Currently, the Congress has 13 general secretaries, 13 incharges, nearly 60 secretaries and eight joint secretaries.