Fund constraints may result in fewer rallies by Sonia, Rahul in northeast polls

New Delhi, Aug 29: The Congress units in poll-bound Nagaland and Meghalaya as well as Pradesh Congress Committees in states like West Bengal or Madhya Pradesh have one thing in common: the resource crunch. The cash-starved state Congress units have now sought party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi's intervention to bail them out of the crisis. A delegation from Congress unit in Nagaland led by former state Minister K Therie last week met Motilal Vora, AICC Treasurer and C P Joshi, General Secretary AICC I/c NE states and impressed upon them to appreciate the state unit's fund constraints. Sometime back, the state Congress leaders from another northeastern state Meghalaya also sought "generous support and advice" from the party high command. Elections are due in these two northeastern states by February 2018. For its part, the Congress high command also knows it pretty well that things have turned very difficult in some states due to resource crunch. But apparently the hands are tied and in many state units, the leaders are generally being told to "fend for themselves". This has already resulted in some desertion of Congress leaders in poll-bound Meghalaya and Gujarat, sources said. Due to obvious reasons following electoral debacle even in state elections since 2014, the Congress party's corporate funding has dried up, "and in contrast the rival BJP has emerged cash-rich", a source said. At the AICC headquarters, senior leaders say the on-going fund crisis has made things difficult in many states. "In Meghalaya, Congress is in power since 2010 and hence can manage the show up to a level. But in Nagaland, the Congress is out of power from 2003 and hence the going has turned difficult. Even in last elections in 2013, other state Congress units like Assam and Manipur came to the help of partymen in Nagaland but now both these states have passed onto BJP," a source told UNI here. Even West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has complained to the party high command about financial constraints. Similar complaints have come from other state units like Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh also. UNI