CONGRESS TRIES TO BREATHE LIFE INTO THE PARTY WITH

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NEW DELHI 000506 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/INS, DRL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM PREL PINR IN SUBJECT: CONGRESS TRIES TO BREATHE LIFE INTO THE PARTY WITH STALE STRATEGIES REF: A. 06 CALCUTTA 578 ¶B. 07 CALCUTTA 11 ¶C. 07 KOLKATA 88 ¶D. 07 KOLKATA 145 ¶E. 07 KOLKATA 340 ¶F. 07 KOLKATA 345 ¶G. 07 MUMBAI 722 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The rattled Congress high command is exploring several moves ) cabinet reshuffle, populist budget, changing alliance partners, promotion of Rahul Gandhi - to recover from its trouncing by the Bharatiya Janata Party in recent state assembly elections. Public bullying by the Left parties over the US-India civil nuclear agreement has also weakened the party. The appointment of cabinet ministers from Delhi to lead state party units further aggravates a historical failing of the Congress Party ) concentration of power in the hands of a few in Delhi and failure to develop strong leaders in the states. Most observers believe that tinkering such as organizational changes and cabinet reshuffles will not be sufficient to reinvigorate the party so it can be competitive in the coming state and national elections. What is needed are bold initiatives which the party does not appear to have the courage or ideas or strength of leadership to propose. End Summary. Congress Party Reshuffle in Key States -------------- ¶2. (SBU) In the first of a series of moves expected in the coming weeks, the Indian National Congress (INC) announced on February 13 changes in state party unit leaderships in three key states, sending out central cabinet ministers to take charge of these states. Water resources Minister Saifuddin Soz was given charge of the Jammu and Kashmir unit. Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi was appointed president of the West Bengal unit of the party. Minister for Personnel Suresh Pachauri was named head of the Madhya Pradesh state party. Two of the three states ) Jammu and Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh ) are due for state assembly elections this year. In West Bengal, the INC may be sensing a vulnerable Communist Party of India ) Marxist (CPI-M) government, which has been damaged by its involvement in the Nandigram violence (refs A-F) when CPI-M cadres killed, raped, assaulted and forcibly evicted villagers resisting displacement to make way for an investment project. Jammu and Kashmir: Mending Fences -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz replaces Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, who was forced to resign from his post in January after allegations of bribery and corruption were levied against him. A fellow legislator accused Sayeed of demanding and accepting $1000 for granting permission to open a private elementary school in the state. Jammu and Kashmir state assembly elections are due in September-October of this year. The state is divided into three vote banks: Jammu, predominantly Hindu and a Congress stronghold; the Kashmir valley, predominantly Muslim; and Ladakh, predominantly Buddhist. The INC hopes that Soz, who is from the Kashmir valley, will balance Congress Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is from the Jammu area and seen in the valley as an outsider. In making this move, the INC is mending fences with its coalition partner, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed,s People,s Democratic Party (PDP) after Chief Minister Azad was overruled in his attempt to drop PDP in favor of the National Conference. A strong Congress performance in the Kashmir valley may have some spill-over benefits for the party in terms of Muslim votes in other states. (Note: Saifuddin Soz is a close Embassy contact; he is a member of the Left-UPA panel that is considering Left NEW DELHI 00000506 002 OF 003 parties, objections to the US-India civil nuclear agreement.) West Bengal: A Confrontational Approach -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi takes over from Pradip Bhattacharya, who had been keeping the seat warm after Pranab Mukherjee quit the post on taking over the External Affairs Ministry in 2006. The move is seen as a signal that the INC is getting ready to battle with its Communist Party of India ) Marxist (CPI-M) allies in the coming state panchayat and national elections. While Pranab Mukherjee was perceived to have a cozy relationship with the CPI-M, Dasmunsi is more adversarial and has severely criticized the CPI-M for the Nandigram violence. Apparently, the Dasmunsi/CPI-M tussle goes back more than 40 years when Dasmunsi faced off with West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya ) and won -- in the Calcutta University student union elections. Dasmunsi is also considered better placed to forge an alliance with Mamta Bennerjee and the Trinamool Congress Party, which is likely to pick up support from those disenchanted with CPI-M rule in the state. Madhya Pradesh: A Compromise Choice -------------- ¶5. (SBU) In Madhya Pradesh, Minister of Personnel Suresh Pachauri will replace former Deputy Chief Minister Subhash Yadav. With state elections due in October-November, Madhya Pradesh is considered the INC,s best bet to oust a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-held government and make up for the string of humbling INC state house losses during 2007. In addition to being an INC-BJP battleground, the state is also an arena for power struggles between some of the INC,s most prominent leaders in Delhi. Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh and Commerce and Industries Minister Kamal Nath are high profile cabinet members from Madhya Pradesh. Former Chief Minister Digvijay Singh is a trusted member of Sonia Gandhi,s inner circle, and currently leading a high-profile Congress delegation to Nepal. Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha Jyotiraditya Scindia is also a rising star in the party and is rumored to be feared as a threat by Rahul Gandhi himself. In the run-up to the state and national elections in Madhya Pradesh, the last thing the INC needs is in-fighting to break out among the different camps and personalities from the state. Pachauri was selected because he is considered neutral among the state,s power players. To make Pachauri,s decision more palatable to Arjun Singh, the latter's son was named chairman of the state unit,s campaign committee, which will give the father-son duo a strong hand in the selection of party candidates in the state assembly elections. Comment: A Battered and Bruised Congress Party -------------- - ¶6. (SBU) The organizational changes announced February 13 were not unexpected. Congress today is a seriously weakened party after a series of setbacks in state polls during 2007, and especially its thumping loss to Narendra Modi in Gujarat (ref G). Public bullying by the Left parties over the US-India civil nuclear agreement has fueled perceptions of a feeble and dithering party with no back-bone, intent of hanging on to power even at the cost of compromising on its principles. Most observers agree that Congress would fare poorly if national elections were held today. In search of a make-over, the party has been exploring many steps to recover and remain competitive in important state and parliamentary elections in the coming months: organizational changes in that state party units such as the ones on February 13; a cabinet reshuffle, which has been rumored for months but is now appearing imminent; a populist budget, due on February NEW DELHI 00000506 003 OF 003 29; a shifting of alliances with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati,s Bahujan Samaj Party out and Mulayum Singh Yadav,s Samawadi Party and Mamta Banerjee,s Trinamool Congress Party in; and changes in the party organization in Delhi with promotion of Rahul Gandhi to working president. It is not clear whether this nickel and dime approach will work. What will remain missing are the bold and visionary initiatives and ideas and courageous leadership that the Congress Party needs to refurbish its image. ¶7. (SBU) The appointment of cabinet ministers from Delhi to lead state party units further concentrates power in the hands of a few in Delhi. The Congress leadership apparently does not realize that one of the party,s historical failings has been its centralization of power. Under Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, decision-making has been closely held, with the party leader consulting only a small coterie of advisors in Delhi. This led to the failure of the party to develop strong leaders in the states and to the resulting growth of regional parties. The inability of the current Congress leadership to even identify such failings let alone fix them accounts for the difficult situation the party finds itself in ahead of the national elections due within 14 months. As the Congress remains tone deaf and desperate, the BJP is increasingly in step with public sentiment. End Comment. WHITE