Congress begins internal cleanup in Madhya Pradesh to revive party structure
BHOPAL: Reeling from consecutive defeats in the 2023 Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress is preparing for a major internal shake-up in Madhya Pradesh. As part of its upcoming organisational overhaul, the party plans to identify and expel internal saboteurs, or Bhitarghatis, accused of covertly aiding the ruling BJP.
The initiative will form a core part of the Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan, to be launched by senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Bhopal on June 3.
"An important aspect of the Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan to be launched by Rahul Gandhi on June 3, will be to identify the Bhitarghatis (saboteurs) who have been damaging the party. Once identified till the development block level, such saboteurs will be shown the way out of the party,' said Leader of Opposition and former minister Umang Singhar.
He further emphasized that the Congress high command is serious about cleaning house. 'Our leader Rahul Gandhi has already made it clear that all those who, while being in the Congress, have been working against the party need to be identified and ousted... Only those who are committed to the party will now be promoted,' Singhar added.
The comments follow recent allegations from former Congress state vice president Damodar Yadav, who claimed that the BJP has cultivated sleeper cells within the Congress. According to Yadav, these elements played a significant role in the party's poor performance during the 2023 assembly elections.
Rahul Gandhi will be in Bhopal on Tuesday to formally launch the Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan in Madhya Pradesh—two months after its rollout in Gujarat, another BJP-ruled state. During his visit, Gandhi is expected to hold at least five strategic meetings with various party wings.
'He will hold meetings with members of the state party's Political Affairs Committee (PAC), current MLAs and former MPs, AICC and PCC delegates/members, the 50 leaders from other states appointed as observers for each district under the campaign, and also chair a meeting of the state executive,' a senior MP Congress leader told TNIE.
As part of the campaign, 50 senior Congress leaders from states including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Rajasthan have been appointed as central observers. Each will oversee organisational restructuring in one Madhya Pradesh district, working in coordination with 3–4 local observers.
These teams will conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the party's grassroots network, identifying both weaknesses and potential. Based on these findings, efforts will be made to rebuild the Congress organization from the primary worker level upward in each district and development block. The party has confirmed that the Abhiyan will be an ongoing effort.
A pilot phase of the initiative is already underway in Vidisha district, a traditional BJP stronghold that includes assembly segments represented by Union Agriculture Minister and former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
In Vidisha, 100–150 specially trained Congress workers are living in villages, holding detailed discussions to understand local challenges and strategise revival efforts. The 15-day field exercise will culminate in a comprehensive report to be submitted to the party's state and central leadership.
The Congress hopes that this grassroots-centred revamp, combined with a purge of disloyal elements, will help revive its fortunes in Madhya Pradesh ahead of future electoral battles.
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