– Communal Clashes: Congress brass stresses on ‘collective leadership’, warns against ‘one caste’ approach in Haryana | India News

NEW DELHI: The Congress leadership on Monday conveyed to its Haryana unit that “collective leadership” is a must to defeat BJP in the state, even as it warned that banking on “one community” for victory may prove to be counter-productive. The advice came during a meeting between the party brass and state leaders.

Also, state Congress members will take out peace marches, starting with a top delegation visiting Mewat on Tuesday to talk to people in the hub of the communal clashes. The decision came as the discussions veered towards the recent riots, with participants and the top brass blaming BJP for using communal violence to distract focus from its failures.
The stress on “collective leadership” and “one community” appeared significant in view of the dominance of the Bhupinder Hooda group in Haryana Congress. Sources said leaders across caste lines emphasised that Congress needs to reach out to all communities, and the effort is currently missing. Besides its intra-party dimension, the advice is significant because BJP, since its advent to power in 2014, has focused on an anti-Jat polarisation in the state.

Sources said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi took turns to stress on “take all the leaders along” and for mobilisation of the traditional party voters across communities. “Without collective leadership, don’t even think of winning the elections,” Rahul is said to have told the gathering, while he and Kharge both spoke about the futility of banking on one caste. The leadership asked the state representatives of different castes to fan out and rally their communities. The meeting was also attended by AICC general secretary KC Venugopal.
A senior member is said to have complained that all leaders were not being invited to party programmes. Also, former MLAs from other parties were being inducted in Congress without a general discussion on their utility. Few complained that the state organization has not been constituted for the last 10 years.
According to sources, Kharge said the Pradesh Congress committee should be constituted without delay and “by consensus”. Also, he asked the state unit to ensure that all important leaders attend the major party events.
As the brainstorming came in the backdrop of communal clashes in Haryana, Rahul is said to have remarked that BJP is losing ground because of its failures, and is behind the outbreak of communal clashes. But, it was felt, the pattern has become predictable, and the people can see through the gambit