The three-day Chintan Shivir has lifted the morale of the Congress workers who believe a sincere implementation of the new resolve may herald a turnaround, but experience has also thrown up troubling questions to create doubts.

While the majority view is that the most immediate gain is the disappearance of gloom as the leadership appeared keen on course correction, some party workers as well as leaders pointed to Rahul Gandhi’s candid admission about the disconnect with the masses and recalled that the same lament marked his debut speech at the Hyderabad plenary in 2006.

Rahul had then identified the party’s inability to connect with the people and give voice to their concerns as the main reason for decline and he did the same on Sunday.

Though the backdrop has changed — the Congress was in power at the Centre in 2006 and now the party is fighting for survival against the BJP’s political onslaught — Rahul’s diagnosis remains the same.

One senior leader, who wasn’t invited to the Chintan Shivir, told The Telegraph: “From Hyderabad to Udaipur, what has changed in the party in two decades? We must probe the reason behind the disconnect and who is responsible instead of crying about it.”

The leader added: “Sonia Gandhi identified communication crisis as one of the reasons for the defeat in 2014 and 2019. Isn’t it sad that we are thinking of starting to address the problems of disconnect and communication in mid-2022? The leadership should also introspect whether the leaders who work among the people and have strong grassroots connect are given greater importance in the party than drawing-room strategists. An answer to these questions will help the leadership strategise better.”

The refusal to revive the parliamentary board has angered some in the party. This proposal was not even sent to the Congress working committee. A leader said: “Instead of reviving what is sanctioned in the Constitution, ingenious methods are being adopted to ensure the control of a select few is not diluted. The advisory committee suggestion was a clever move to shoot down the demand for a parliamentary board, which takes critical decisions and selects candidates for elections.”

This is not an isolated view and most leaders concede that precious two-three years were wasted even though the Covid disruption was a genuine hurdle. They believe the leadership crisis was uncalled for and the organisational restructuring processes should have been completed within the first year after the 2019 shock. The party has now promised to fill all the vacancies in 180 days while the new leader will be elected by August-September.

Some office-bearers, who privately see merit in these arguments, however, assert that the Chintan Shivir had taken drastic measures that will significantly strengthen the party no matter how justified the criticism about delayed action is.

“As Rahul Gandhi said, is there any other party which allows such frank conversation on issues? The churning has thrown up ideas, which will inject fresh energy into the organisation. It is exceptional that we have started preparations for 2024 two years in advance,” a general secretary said.

The leader insisted that the clarity on ideological position that came out from the Chintan Shivir was extraordinary.

He explained: “We were under abnormal pressure because of the BJP’s majoritarian politics. Some of our leaders were also in dilemma about our approach. But Sonia Gandhi has stamped out whatever doubts anybody had about our conviction. Though it was decided that we should avoid getting into the BJP’s trap and focus on governance failures like unemployment and price rise, it was clearly stated that there can’t be any compromise on core ideological values. We will forcefully attack the BJP for manufacturing hate and creating communal polarisation.”

Asked for key takeaways from the brainstorming session, the leader said: “The organisational machinery will become far more powerful and effective with the new departments for public insight and election management. Greater representation of youth will bring in more energy. There will be monitoring of performance and fixed term of five years for office-bearers, giving more opportunities for other leaders to rise. One ticket for a family will encourage ordinary workers to work.”

Ordinary workers, who rarely go into the nitty-gritty, were satisfied with the leadership’s readiness to introspect and make amends.

An AICC member from Delhi said: “It is all about morale and determination. Strategy and communication will automatically get bolstered once we come out on the streets. Half-baked measures won’t do. If Rahul Gandhi indeed leads the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ sincerely, the party will get rejuvenated. Rahul ji has to do padyatra in election-bound Gujarat, Karnataka, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The rest can be taken care of by other leaders.”