To address the sagging morales of party workers, Congress president Sonia Gandhi attributed her party's defeat in the Lok Sabha elections and then in successive assembly polls to communication failure.
At a day-long conclave of chief ministers of nine-Congress ruled states, the leaders were told to learn better communication skills and formulate a common position with the party's leadership to put up a collective fight against the central government led by prime minister Narendra Modi. The leaders had been at crossroads with their own chief ministers, who at times had taken different lines from the Congress position, be it the land bill, GST or some other issue, giving the NDA leverage.
To address the sagging morales of party workers, Congress president Sonia Gandhi attributed her party's defeat in the Lok Sabha elections and then in successive assembly polls to communication failure. "We can have great accomplishments, but they have to reach the people," she said, asking for formulating a comprehensive communication policy to arrest the further decline of the party. Even former prime minister Manmohan Singh acknowledged that his successor has been a more adept salesman, event manager and better communicator than him. The last such CMs' conclave was held in Guwahati in April 2012 that threw up the idea of RTI and MGNREGA.
A resolution adopted by the nine Congress states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Uttarakhand accused the Modi government for its "boastful claims, exaggerations and downright falsehoods" of its achievements over the past year. It said the central government's systematic efforts have been to deny the UPA government its rightful credit for the progress made by the country during its 10-year rule.
The assembled chief ministers also decided to carry forward the UPA government's unfinished task of passing state-level laws to give statutory status to the Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan and the Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP), agreeing with Sonia Gandhi that this would be the best tribute to the memory of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar on the occasion of his 125th birth anniversary.
The resolution adopted by them also condemned "the despicable efforts being made by the ruling establishment to denigrate and destroy the multi-faceted legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru, the architect of the modern Indian nation-state." It resolved to uphold his vision at all times.
It also condemned the Modi government's hasty and ill-considered abolition of the Planning Commission and doing away with special category of states, adversely affecting the eight northeastern states, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir as also the new state of Andhra Pradesh.
Party vice-president Rahul Gandhi asked CMs to defend the rights-based paradigm, defend decentralisation, and follow the basic Congress thought pattern of decentralised power to panchayats and empowerment of people. He asked for the evolution of new ideas so that "we face the next election with a new model, a new way of thinking about the future and I think the state governments have a big role to play." He exhorted chief ministers to focus clearly on one or two programmes and showcase them as the best in the country whether it is education, PDS or any other issue.
Since states are supposed to implement the UPA government's landmark 2013 land acquisition law and the national food security act, Sonia Gandhi earlier told the CMs that Modi has to be strongly opposed for his turnabouts on the two laws. She pointed out that the attempt to reduce coverage of food security from 67% to 40% is alarming while the entire system of food procurement, including MSP (minimum support price to farmers) is under assault.
She wanted the assembled chief ministers and other senior party leaders to focus on three immediate issues: Manner in which UPA flagship programes are being implemented by the Centre and the impact of the changes, dilution of UPA's key pro-poor policies and the Congress-ruled states role on new schemes introduced by the Modi government.
BJP response to Congress charges of over-centralisation
Benefits to Congress-ruled states in wake of implementation of 14th finance commission
Assam will gain an additional Rs 6,696 crore in 2015-16 which is an increase of 49% from 2014-15.
Karnataka will get an additional Rs 8,497 crore in 2015-16 which is an increase of 48% from 2014-15.
Kerala will get an additional Rs 8,912 crore in 2015-16 which is an increase of 92% from 2014-15
Uttarakhand will get an additional Rs 8,274 crore in 2015-16 which is an increase of 124% from 2104-15
Arunachal Pradesh will get an additional Rs 5,399 crore in 2015-16 which is an increase of 278% from 2014-15.
While the total taxes and grants transferred to the states increased by Rs 2,03,192 crore, the reduction in transfers for centrally sponsored schemes is only Rs 63,240 crore, which is a net gain of 1,40,000 crore to the states
Congress ruled states like Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh are the biggest net gainers from this increase in fund transfer by the central govt with gains between 35% to 50%. Other Congress-ruled states have also gained significantly
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