Taking a cue from the massive response to Anna Hazare, the Congress loyalists are mounting pressure on top leaders to get rid of "agents" whose power politics has given the 120 years organisation a bad name.
They say party high command Sonia Gandhi and All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Rahul Gandhi should recognise the virtues of loyalists committed to basic principles of Congress.
The concerns about ideology taking a backseat to accommodate those who promise money and muscle power is being talked in the corridors of power in Delhi and Maharashtra.
A senior AICC functionary told DNA: "Anna's agitation should be a wake-up call for the Congress across the country. The massive mass support against corruption is a signal to the ruling Congress. Unless we take strong corrective measures to revert to the ideology- based politics, we are unlikely to win people's support."
Citing an example a political manager said, "To begin with, we have to put an end to power bargain. When former MPCC chief Prabha Rau inducted Narayan Rane into the Congress, they promised him chief minister's post but later settled to minister of revenue. The party has downsized Rane as minister of industries. They used Rane to harass former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh for almost four years. There are several such instances where party leadership has adopted such tricks to humiliate established leaders."
The same is the case in the alliance where Udayan Raje (MP) was inducted to downsize deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar. But Raje turned the tables against the NCP top brass. Later, he joined the Congress.
A general secretary said: "When the election tickets are issued, they judge the financial worth of the candidate. And it is passed off as electoral merit. If money is integral to electoral politics, how can we combat corruption?"
After Sonia Gandhi returns to work, the Congress Working Committee is likely to indulge in some brain storming on consolidation of the party.
In Maharashtra, MPCC chief Manikrao Thakre-led team has embarked on a campaign to reconnect with the people to explain the party's commitment to people's welfare.
Insiders in the party said: "What is bothering the top leadership is how to overcome Team Anna's August 30 deadline. If we survive that, then we can prepare ourselves for the bigger battle in 2014."
Mahi
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