NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Harish Rawat on Friday said said unless his party rediscovers its ‘hunger’ for power, they will continue to risk losing more members and conceding further ground to the BJP.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Rawat, stressed the importance of regaining strength and ambition within the party to effectively compete with their political rivals.
“We have to rediscover and develop that hunger for power within ourselves. Else, we will continue to cede more ground to the BJP after every election,” he told ANI.
Expressing his concerns over the increasing presence of BJP workers in areas where the Congress has weakened, Rawat highlighted the necessity for the party to reinvent itself at all levels.
“Not just in national or provincial levels, even in villages and localities, their (BJP’s) workers are filling our void. We cannot aspire to hold our own in villages and localities unless we beat the BJP at every level,” Rawat said.
On whether being in the opposition’s INDIA bloc would help the Congress going into the general elections, Rawat said, “Our partners in the INDIA bloc are helping us renew our hunger for success and power.”
“At this stage, every Congressman should come out in full strength, overcoming the hurdles that the ruling party in the state and Centre has created for us. We will struggle to achieve electoral success unless we go into elections with a strong resolve and a do-or-die approach,” he said.
In order to effectively challenge the BJP, Rawat emphasized the need for the Congress to enhance efficiency in resource management and mobilization efforts.
“Despite being in power in several states and the Centre, the BJP is better and more efficient in how it practices its politics on the ground. So, if we are to beat them, we need to be more efficient in how we mobilise our resources on the ground. Our workers should work towards wresting the ground that we ceded to the BJP,” Rawat said.