'Post not ornamental, perform or perish': Congress tells newly appointed Secretaries, Joint Secretaries

The party leadership asked the secretaries to spend more time in states assigned to them and identify and groom new leaders with potential.

New Delhi: Top Congress leadership on Tuesday sent a ‘perform or perish’ message to its newly-appointed Secretaries and Joint Secretaries, reminding them that their posts are “not ornamental” while tasking them to groom new leadership in states they are assigned to.

The message to the leaders came in a meeting Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and party General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal held with 66 Secretaries and Joint Secretaries, who were appointed last week.

“We are determined to strengthen our organisation, involve each voice and keep speaking truth to power,” Kharge posted on ‘X’ after the meeting.

Sources said the leaders asked them to spend more time in states assigned to them and identify and groom new leaders with potential.

They told them that they were appointed after a rigorous screening and deliberations that spanned months. Performance will determine whether they will get promotion in organisation or perish, sources quoted the leaders as saying.

The Secretaries and Joint Secretaries attached with party General Secretaries should focus on social justice themes during their political work. Both Kharge and Rahul insisted that the posts were not ornamental and performance matters, they said.

Rahul said the appointments were made keeping in mind the decisions taken at the Udaipur Conclave and 70 per cent of the new appointees are below 50 years and 60-65 per cent belong to SC, ST, OBC and minorities, sources said.

Kharge told them that they should take a stern stand on issues and not wishy-washy ones, sources said.

While the leadership wanted them to concentrate on their assignment, sources said some of them suggested that the leadership should ensure that their absence from home states should not become an impediment when it comes to their electoral ambitions.

Venugopal said that this diverse team that has strong representation from marginalised sections of society, with its youthful exuberance and pan-India profile, will bring new fervour to our party functioning.

“As Kharge-ji and Rahul-ji aptly pointed out in the meeting, our job has to be to fight against the BJP-RSS’ divisive politics and work stridently to defend the Constitution. We are a force that works for social transformation, while the BJP represents social stagnation,” he posted on ‘X’.

He said he is confident that the new team will help the Congress grow from strength to strength and work with renewed passion in the days to come.