Bhopal: In Madhya Pradesh, the crushing defeat at the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the assembly elections last year, followed by the wipeout in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, may have left the state unit of the Congress in dampened spirits, but the party has decided to undergo a complete revamp to move forward.
The restructuring process of the Madhya Pradesh Congress is starting with the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) headquarters in Bhopal, which is gearing up for a facelift. Under the leadership of state Congress president Jitu Patwari, the party’s office is set for a reshuffle in the seating arrangements of leaders, a fresh coat of paint and brand-new electronic signage, replacing the vinyl banner at the entry of the building.
Patwari has set out to break down all the partitions within the building, which form tiny chambers for each group of leaders and their staffers. The building is now being equipped with spacious rooms for Umang Singhar, the leader of the Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh assembly, on the ground floor, and the various morchas and prakoshtha on the first floor.
Atop the building behind the new electronic signage, five flags representing each of the crucial verticals of the party — Seva Dal, National Students’ Union of India, Youth Congress, Mahila Morcha and All India Professionals’ Congress — along with the party flag itself, will be put up.
According to the plan, a large hall on the first floor will be furnished with new sofas, and the walls will be adorned with pictures of the party’s symbol, previous state party presidents and the senior national leaders, along with the souvenirs received by the party’s leaders.
The third floor, which houses the chambers of the state party president, is being reconstructed to make it more spacious with a terrace garden in the front. A new lift heading directly to the president’s office, which will be used only by him, will also be operationalised soon.
Sanjay Kamble, the administration in-charge of the Pradesh Congress Committee, who is overseeing the renovation, told The Print, “The need for a new and ‘yuva’ building was felt. These changes are being made to create a synergy amongst the cadre. But while doing so, we are being careful of the budget. Most of the materials are being recycled and reused.”
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New additions
A data centre, being set up on the same floor as Patwari’s office, will maintain verified data of voters, in addition to a complete record of the information of all its workers and their families. The party’s data team, which worked in a scattered fashion for different leaders, is now being brought under one roof.
“It is said that the Congress party does not have a cadre committed to it. Instead, it is leader-oriented. After the large-scale defection of Congress leaders to the BJP, the party has now reworked its entire stack of data of the party members and their families, and is reaching out to each of them,” said a party leader, requesting anonymity.
“There are enough and more workers who are committed to the cause of the party even today, and work to train them will begin soon,” he added.
There will also be a specific team dedicated to social media platforms — Facebook, Instagram and X — which will be seated in the basement.
The leader further said the state Congress’s social media accounts were currently more focused on the serving president and specific leaders instead of the party’s work. But things will change moving forward, he said.
He added: “The social media team will gather inputs from leaders, MLAs and various morchas and prakoshtha highlighting their work, instead of just what the state president is doing.”
It is the first major revamp that the Congress office building is undergoing after it was inaugurated in 2005 by then party president Subhash Yadav. Another leader said, however, many state presidents have made some minor changes in the past.
When Arun Yadav had taken over the reins of the Madhya Pradesh unit, he had removed all toilets from the offices on the front side on the ground floor, on the basis of advice from a Vastu expert.
Kamal Nath, who had been appointed as party president in 2018, was asked to ensure that the basement of the building was not left empty, as it was not considered suitable according to Vastu. Nath went on to house the offices of various morchas that he had created based on caste and occupation in the basement. The social media team’s office will now be set up in the same basement.
Patwari is also said to have consulted a Vastu expert, who visited the building and advised him to change the size of the doors and the direction in which they opened. The doors are now being polished, and the chambers with east-facing doors are also being given north-facing doors.
A new reception will be set up at the entrance of the building. A huge pile of garbage at the back has also been cleared.
“Anyone who has faith does believe in Vastu. Today, even to buy a car, people look for the opportune time, and in that spirit, the changes are being made,” added a party leader.
However, speaking to ThePrint, Congress leader Abbas Hafeez said, “This is routine maintenance work. Many people were consulted before making these changes, and their advice was taken and is being acted upon.”
Another important addition in the revamped Congress office is a canteen that will provide food at low prices to the party cadre and office bearers, who visit the headquarters for meetings. The idea of a canteen was being mulled since Kamal Nath’s time as state president, but its feasibility with respect to low footfall was a concern.
“During Kamal Nath ji’s tenure, we had organised the training of workers in 167 assembly constituencies. Now with Patwari as the chief, the training sessions for party cadres are all set to be restarted aggressively. Considering this, the feasibility of running a canteen does not seem so absurd,” a party leader said.
“We have calculated the money spent on purchasing food from outside. At the same cost, we will be able to run a canteen in the building itself,” he added.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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