Smt. Sonia Gandhi, President

10 March 2012

To,
Smt. Sonia Gandhi, President
All India Congress Committee,
New Delhi.



I write these few lines with deep anguish & pain. Recent results of UP elections have sent shock waves in congress circle. You have well defined the ills which have caused these setbacks.

I would like to list a few.
• Selection of candidates was arbitrary dependent more on sycophancy rather than merits of the individuals. 129 Dal Badloos. (nycnyw) were offered tickets, who had joined the congress party few weeks before the election. This pattern of ticket distribution made the hard core and committed congress men (working for last 5 to 20 years) neglected and demoralized.
• Role of senior leaders-their utterances were irresponsible undesirable and atrocious.
• The campaigning should be dominated by local/mandal and state level leaders. Their absence on the frontline reflected as the party is devoid of strong & committed leadership at grass root levels.
• Apex level (Central Leaders) involvement should be far & few & selective.
• A very angry and offensive style of campaigning does not give expected dividend.
• A Gandhian view needs to be presented, which reflects utmost modesty& humility. That would result better connectivity.

I am a born congressman, my parents were freedom fighters. I served the IAF for forty years. I am pilot by profession, And since mid 2008 holding the appointment of Chairman-Ex servicemen Deptt of UPCC.

If we would not take immediate steps to build the congress at grass root level from now onwards, we would land up with just 8-9 parliamentarians from UP in 2014. Our target has to be min 40.

This is a wakeup call,



Sincerely yours,



Air Marshal Ashok Goel (Retd)
Chairman, UPCC, Ex-Servicemen Deptt
Copy to :

1. Shri Rahul Gandhi, General Secretary, AICC.
2. Shri Digvijai Singh, General Secretary, AICC.
3. Shri Moti Lal Vora, Treasurer, AICC.
4. Oscar Fernandes,Advisor to President, AICC.
5. Shri Pramod Tewari, Leader Congress Legislative Party UP.
6. Maj Ved Prakash, Chairman, AICC, Ex-Servicemen Deptt.
7. Capt Praveen Davar, Secretary, AICC, Ex-Servicemen Deptt.
8. Smt. Rita Bahuguna Joshi, President, UPCC.
9. Brig R K Sood, Vice Chairman, UPCC, Ex-Servicemen Deptt.
10. Maj Dubey, Vice Chairman, UPCC, Ex-Servicemen Deptt.
11. Shri DS Tewari, Vice Chairman, UPCC, Ex-Servicemen Deptt.
12. Shri AKshaywar Shukla, Convener, UPCC, Ex-Servicemen Deptt.


Air Marshal Ashok Goel (Retd)
Chairman, UPCC, Ex-Servicemen Deptt