New Delhi, Oct. 20: The Congress central leadership has decided to divide the party’s functioning in Bihar into five zones to improve its “work culture” in the state.

This was decided following a recent meeting between senior Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee members and party president Sonia Gandhi.

Senior Congress leaders in Delhi said changing the party set-up was expected to go a long way towards rebuilding it in the country’s second-most populous and politically significant state.

The zones will be selected on the basis of the regions and each zone would include about eight districts on an average. The zones are likely to be headed by leaders chosen by the party high command.

The Congress has long been struggling to stand on its feet in the state. In the 2010 Assembly elections, it had suffered a major setback and managed to win one four of the total 243 seats. The dismal performance in the polls was said to be a result of lack of strong leaders and infighting among the party’s office-bearers in the state unit.

Admitting that the party was marred with several shortcomings in Bihar, a Congress leader and in-charge of the state said: “Many leaders had met Sonia and sought restructuring of the party unit in the state.”

He told The Telegraph: “The priority is to build the party in the state where we have been delivering poor show in elections for quite some time now. We have long been feeling that running the party affairs in such a big state is difficult for a single person. It will help the state head if he or she is ably supported by in-charges of zones. We had eight zones in Uttar Pradesh and the method has helped us.”