He might be a thing of the past in British politics, but former Prime Minister Tony Blair is now hot commodity in the Congress.
NEW DELHI: He might be a thing of the past in British politics, but former Prime Minister Tony Blair is now hot commodity in the Congress.
The Blair model, used to turn the Labour Party's flagging fortunes around in Britain over a decade back, has come in handy for India's Grand Old Party, which is in search of a winning formula after successive electoral defeats including in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
Congress is discussing ways and means on how to affect a turnaround for the 123-year old organisation, which is gradually losing its political space. And time is of the essence, as ten Assembly polls are lined up during the current year followed by the Lok Sabha polls next year.
Rahul Gandhi is a member of the high level AICC Group on Future Challenges that is going into the issue of reviving and revitalising the party.
Senior leader M Veerappa Moily, who is heading the Group, says that the way Blair affected a spectacular turnaround of the Labour Party into New Labour over a decade back was being analysed.
Lessons are also being drawn in the exercise from the examples of democratic organisations all around the world which made it big, he says adding that the report of the Group would be ready soon.
The late V N Gadgil, who was one of the ideologues of the party, had suggested years back that Blair model needed to be studied deeply. Those were the days when Congress was in political wilderness at the Centre for a record eight long years.
Sonia Gandhi's candid statement during the recent AICC meeting here that 'Rahul and I do not have a magic wand' was to drive home the point that party worker will have to go the extra mile in the changed scenario.
Congress has ruled the country for most part of the 60 years since independence but has failed to get majority on its own since 1984 when the elections were held in the wake of Indira Gandhi's assassination.
Currently, the only major state where Congress is ruling on its own is Andhra Pradesh.
Another leader says that changes in the party would be visible sooner than later amid refrain in the AICC that it cannot afford a defeat in Karnataka where Assembly polls are due by May.
Besides the report of the Group, the leader says that Gandhi has been given inputs on the organisational issue by several others in the party and outside.
The emphasis is on ensuring quick decision making in an era of coalitions where the USP of regional parties was to grab the political space by smart footwork.
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