Congress workers at Rahul Gandhi rally to mark attendance using ID cards with barcode

Congress Leader Sharmistha Mukherjee claimed this is the first time a party is providing identity cards to its workers. (Express photo)

The exercise was started around two weeks ago, a source said, adding: “This is also an attempt by the Delhi Congress to show its power in mobilising people. There have been times when people from Haryana and Rajasthan came in turbans, and the impression went out that they were more in number than workers from Delhi.”

“Each local leader heading a district or a block is supposed to come with the names of workers from the area, and get ID cards made for them,” a source said. “Suppose a local leader asks for 1,000 cards for people in his area — this can be entered into a separate Excel sheet, and we can later check how many people he/she actually managed to bring.”

Party sources said the card will also keep track of the number of workers each local leader brings to the rally. (Express photo)

Congress IT cell head Aniruddha Sharma said there will be four people with computers and bar code scanners at the entry and exit gates of Ramlila Maidan, so that they can keep a track of workers entering the rally.

Congress Leader Sharmistha Mukherjee claimed this is the first time a party is providing identity cards to its workers. The exercise is also meant to fix accountability and maintain a record of Congress workers, she said.