Maharashtra Congress set to overhaul organisation in ‘Sangathan Srujan Abhiyan’

The Maharashtra Congress will begin overhauling its organization at the grassroots level through the Sangathan Srujan Abhiyan, amid criticism over the lack of party organization among workers and the dominance of repeat faces.

The change will include the election of the taluka (block) chairman for the first time.

As part of the exercise, the party is finalizing the list of 72 district presidents across the state and unlike past practices, the campaign will also include taluka-level appointments covering 675 talukas. Electing the Taluka-level president is an initiative of State unit chief Harshwardhan Sapkal.

Under the new pattern, taluka Congress presidents will be appointed along with ten front organizations and department heads in each taluka, including Youth Congress, NSUI, Mahila Congress and Seva Dal, along with representatives from OBC, SC, ST, VJNT, minority and social media wings.

State observers have been tasked with recommending at least three names for each post, with the final decision to be made by the party leadership. The initiative is expected to expand the leadership base within the party by providing organizational responsibilities to more than 7,000 party workers.

“The exercise will give priority to youth leadership and aim to increase the representation of OBCs, Dalits, Adivasis, minorities and women in the organizational structure. The Congress will work on two principles for the next few years. One of them is to build the organization on the basis of ideology and combat the problems of the people arising from the failures of the Union and Maharashtra governments,” Sapkal said. He also added that he will strengthen the party for the 2029 (assembly and Lok Sabha) elections.

While the chairmen of 45 of the party’s 60 organizational regions in the state will be replaced, the chairmen of the 12 newly created organizational regions will be appointed.

Mr. Sapkal said the party aims to appoint around 8,000 new officers, including district and taluka presidents, in the next two months.

“The Congress is currently implementing the ‘Sangathan Srujan’ (organizational restructuring) program in Maharashtra. For this, an observer from Delhi has been sent to each district. These observers will submit the panels containing the names of the new presidents to the central leadership and they will then finalize the appointments,” he said.

New faces will replace those who have been district presidents for five years or more.

Sapkal said, “There is no objection to a new appointment. Leaders who have been in this position for many years insist that new faces be given a chance. The aim is not to dismiss the current district heads, but to provide opportunities for new leaders.”