The Kohima District Congress Committee (KDCC) on February 26 held a press conference deliberating on Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan , a strategic nationwide initiative launched by the Indian National Congress (INC) to revitalize its party structure and strengthen leadership at the grassroots level.
Addressing the media, Lalji Desai, Chief Organizer of AICC Seva Dal and AICC Observer highlighted that Nagaland is the fifth state he has visited as part of the nationwide Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan, an initiative aimed at rebuilding the Congress organisation from the grassroots by gathering opinions, feedback, and suggestions from workers across all levels from village and block units to district leadership.
He explained that the programme seeks to restore the Congress party’s traditional bottom-up approach, enabling grassroots workers and local leaders to participate in organisational decision-making. According to him, the campaign was jointly launched by Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Khargeto transform the party structure at a time when political perceptions in India are shifting and the organisation itself requires renewal.
Desai emphasised the guiding principle of “Sangathan Sarvopari” meaning the organisation is paramount , stating that the electoral wing should not dominate the organisational structure. The process, he noted, has already been carried out in several states including Gujarat, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, and is now underway in additional states including Nagaland.
He informed that AICC observers and senior leaders from across the country are currently visiting districts and blocks in Nagaland to interact with Congress workers in groups and individually, identify potential leaders, and assess local and organisational issues. The exercise also aims to shortlist candidates for District Congress Committee (DCC) presidents across the state’s 12 organisational districts.
Desai clarified that the initiative is a time-bound programme extending beyond merely appointing DCC presidents. Once selected, each DCC president will undergo a mandatory 10-day training programme and be assigned specific tasks to build organisational structures at block, assembly, and village levels within 45 days. “Our goal is to ensure a functional Congress organisation at every level down to the village,” he said, adding that progress from all 12 DCC units in Nagaland will be reported to the AICC by March 7.
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He also noted that the process is fully digital, transparent, and confidential, with all feedback from workers recorded in an internal database for organisational review and action. Some districts may retain existing DCC presidents while others may see new appointments, depending on the evaluation.
Highlighting the challenges faced by Congress in Nagaland after years out of power, Desai said similar restructuring efforts in states where the party had long remained in opposition had yielded positive results, enabling expansion to booth-level structures.
Speaking at the press conference, NPCC Working President Theünuo said the Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan initiative was conceived during the Ahmedabad session of the Congress last year with the objective of empowering workers from booth to district levels and ensuring merit-based leadership selection without undue top-level influence. He expressed confidence that the initiative would strengthen the party’s accountability and grassroots connection in Nagaland, beginning with the District Congress Committees.
The Congress delegation will continue district-level consultations in Nagaland over the coming days as part of the nationwide organisational rebuilding campaign.
