Shabbir Ali Lauds Proposed Changes To Congress

Telangana Congress leader and former minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir today said he welcomed the proposed changes in the organisation of the party, and hoped that they would help in reviving it at the grassroots level in the state.

The senior Congress leader said that the meeting held by Congress national president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi yesterday discussed a lot of the required changes in the organisation and the functioning of the party.

"At the meeting yesterday, the Congress leadership took several decisions to help revive and strengthen the party in Telangana. Senior party leaders also took steps to boost the morale of the Congress cadre, and breathe new life into the party's grassroots-level workers. It was important to do this because the cadre has been demoralised by the series of defeats the party has faced since 2014," he said.

Discussing the appointment of the next AICC President, Shabbir Ali said that he believed that Rahul Gandhi would be a good choice for the post, and that the cadre too wanted Gandhi to lead the party.

"Rahul Gandhi is the most suitable choice for the post of the AICC President. Even the party cadre believes that he has the potential to bring the Congress to power in the next election. Leaders who want to offer different suggestions will get the chance to air their views at the Chintan Baithak. The baithak will be similar to the one held in 2003. I hope that it will revive the party as the previous baithak did," he said.

The Congress leader also claimed that it would be premature to write off the party's fate in Telangana, and said that it still remained the largest political party in the state despite its recent electoral losses.

"Victory and defeat are both part of electoral politics, and the Congress has witnessed several ups and downs in its long history. While we may have lost a few elections, we are proud to say that we never compromised our ideology. Moreover, we have never cheated or misled the people of the state for minor electoral gains. The other parties might have won elections through unethical and immoral means, and using money or muscle power, but the Congress has never indulged in such tactics as our primary aim is to serve the people, and not to win elections. We will therefore continue to serve the people irrespective of whether or not we win elections," he added.