To work on broken middle leadership, to fix accountability are top priorities: Maharashtra Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal

Harshwardhan Sapkal, new Maharashtra Congress president, aims to rebuild middle leadership and restore accountability amid challenges.

“The middle leadership line in Maharashtra Congress is broken and the top priority will be to work on it,” newly appointed Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal told The Hindu in his first conversation after the appointment. He also admitted that fixing accountability was a challenge the party had faced, and that accountability needed to be re-established. His appointment was announced recently, amid one of the worst electoral performances of the Congress in the recent times. The national party has only 16 MLAs in the current Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

After Nana Patole, he is the second leader from Vidarbha to be entrusted with the top job by the central Congress leadership, sidelining the heavyweight names from western Maharashtra. The low-key leader’s appointment, though on anticipated lines, has raised many eyebrows.

When asked about the challenges in front of him at one of the worst times for the party, Mr. Sapkal denied that the recent election results showed the party’s dwindling performance. “Look at our vote share. The voters are very much with us. We are at a point in the country where there are only two ideologies – one is that of the Congress and the other is that of the BJP. And there are many voters who believe in our ideology. Our challenge is that the society’s harmony and social fabric have been disturbed by the BJP. To bring the ‘sadbhavana’ back in the society, is our priority,” he said.

When asked about his priorities at a time when there seemed to be internal stresses and strains in Maharashtra Congress, he said the party was united. “All these reports that I don’t have the support of all the State leaders, are wrong. This is only an effort to create perception about us. Everyone supports me. We all stand together,” he said.

“I want to make one thing clear – the top leadership is with us. The masses are with us. The middle leadership line seems to have been broken. To work on it is my top priority,” he said.

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When asked to elaborate on the measures he will take to work on his priority, he said, “We will absorb the loyalists, make appointments of leaders who have mass base and social support. There is an accountability problem. I will have to admit that. And we need to re-establish it.”