The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Ineffective organisational set-up worries Congress

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Thursday, Jun 19, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Ineffective organisational set-up worries Congress

Positive response to Congress’ performance may not translate into votes, reveal surveys

HYDERABAD: The launch of welfare programmes targeting grassroot-level beneficiaries notwithstanding, absence of proper leadership at district and mandal levels to communicate them to people is likely to become a cause of concern for the Congress.

Random surveys conducted by the party in the run-up to the next elections have revealed that though the response to the government’s performance is positive, the party is likely to find it difficult to translate it into votes.

Goof-ups

Problems with the ineffective organisational set-up are so glaring that people are finding hard to recollect the names of local Congress functionaries.

The surveys in districts are aimed at ascertaining the impact of government programmes launched at the grassroots for getting first-hand information on their implementation.

Covering a cross section of society, they are based on questions relating to the political scenario, impact of Chiranjeevi’s entry into politics, separate Telangana and implementation of welfare schemes.

Naidu’s drawback

A survey conducted in West Godavari district, for instance, revealed that the Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu was able to renew people’s hopes on the party, but was not able to create enough confidence on the implementation of his promises. This, coupled with widespread anger against steep price rise of essentials, is set to become a cause of concern for the party.

‘Faulty’ scheme

It pointed out that people are critical of the loan waiver scheme as ‘unscientific’, as it was aimed at encouraging those evading repayment while farmers, who genuinely repaid on time, are left out.

Chiranjeevi’s entry into politics is also not likely to impact the Congress, as he is perceived as a representative of the Kapu community and not as a mass leader.

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