Rahul Gandhi has undoubtedly emerged as a formidable Opposition face and has put behind him all the ridicule he had to face from his opponents both within his party and outside. However, he must realise that generals cannot go to the war zone without an army in place. In case of the Congress, it has a general but not adequate soldiers. The Congress, if it hopes to vanquish the BJP, must put its house in order, and though every time it loses an election, there is a talk of introspection, but nothing evidently changes. The supreme irony is that the high command is aware of this issue but for reasons known only to a few, nothing has been done on the ground. The top bosses of the party must apply their minds to this serious limitation on a priority basis. It is easy to demand more tickets in an Assembly election, as is being done in some states now. However, it is equally difficult to put out a stellar performance which is not possible unless there is a strong organizational network. In multiple states in the past, the Congress has faced elections with its state units not being fully constituted. Declaring a PCC chief is not sufficient unless there is a full team to back him and there is a structure in every district and block. The charge of "vote chori" may or may not be true. But such a thing can never be possible if there are workers at every booth and maintain complete vigilance against any wrongdoing.

Most of the senior leaders are a rusted lot, but they shall remain relevant till there are others who have been groomed to take over the responsibility from them. In some cases, it is being done, but the effort has to be more amplified and not confined to one or two places. Many of the Congress leaders are banking on a strong anti-incumbency or a negative vote to contribute to a BJP defeat. However, this is not any solution and unless the grand old party also makes an effort percolating to the micro-management of booths, the dream shall always remain a dream. The BJP has a very robust organization network backed by the RSS and immense money muscles. The Congress has so far failed to strengthen its base and though there are leaders who have no dearth of financial strength, the party lacks sufficient funding. This is an area that needs serious attention. The organizational structure requires an overhaul. There are more than 120 secretaries in the AICC and many of them do not know each other either. Most of them have no connect with ground level and are completely irrelevant to the party's prospects. The Congress Working Committee has lost its sheen. There was a time when a member of a CWC wielded both influence and stature. This is absent and many of the members are there because they have either been adjusted or are known sycophants of the leadership. This is not the correct way forward.

The high command has often admitted that one of the reasons for their losing the elections was that the party lacked an organizational network. The question is that this is also an admission of the central leadership's failure since it is the job of the top functionaries to work and strengthen the organization. In Delhi for instance, the late Sheila Dikshit would always be remembered for being the longest serving Chief Minister. However, during her tenure, the Congress organization was weakened beyond repair. If the party has no MLA or MP in Delhi, it is essentially because the organization was reduced to irrelevance and no new leaders were groomed. The current crop of leaders were merely surviving, with very less connect with the workers. The Congress needs leaders in every state who can deliver, when the need arises and not be around only because of their proximity with either the Gandhis or some other important person. There is a dire need to strengthen the media and communication department as well. In Karnataka, for example, there have been raids that have been conducted on some important leaders including ministers.

The law shall take its course so far as those who have been raided are concerned, but if there is any political reason for this, it should be highlighted. There are multiple BJP leaders also in the same state who have been accused of amassing huge wealth through unfair means. Nothing has happened to them and the Congress media department is also silent about their activities. Rahul Gandhi may be working very hard to resuscitate an ailing party but he needs to be ably assisted by many others who just cannot sit back and wait for a miraculous change to take place. After the 1977 defeat, Indira Gandhi backed by Sanjay Gandhi and his supporters rebuilt the organization and brought the party back to power in 1980. That spirit and zeal is absent. In that phase and following the second Congress split in 1978, there was only one general secretary, Buta Singh and not uncountable office bearers. Rahul's focus should be on the organization as much as it is on other issues. Between us.