Rahul’s promise to workers: a say in candidate selection

representatives of the party from the Vidarbha region at the Surabardi Meadows near here.

“When it comes to selecting party nominees,the old system of Delhi choosing them for you will have to go. You will have a say and your views will be taken into consideration before allotment of party tickets,” a senior party leader told The Indian Express quoting him.

Asked if he laid down any mechanism how it would be done,the leader said: “He didn’t say anything about how to go about it for the 2014 elections. He said any such mechanism is very difficult to evolve immediately for 2014. But he said he wanted the future of Congress to be like this. For now,the stress is on building and strengthening party organisation.”

Stating that he was aware that the voices of the ground-level office-bearers and workers often got stifled,Rahul egged on the lower-rung party officials to speak up,often himself walking among them with the microphone. Enthused,the delegates opened their hearts out,even calling names of party MLAs who they alleged didn’t pay heed to them or didn’t communicate.

Rahul even kept Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee chief Manikrao Thakre out of the interaction. Only state party in-charge Mohan Prakash was inside the meeting hall.

Rahul reprimanded Warora MLA and Gadchiroli Guardian Minister Sanjay Deotale,who is also the state’s Minister for Cultural Affairs,when Aheri tahsil party chief Mehboob Ali complained that the former did not convene party meetings and meet party workers regularly.

“This style of a sarvesarva (all-powerful) party leader mingling with ground-level party workers and encouraging them to talk rather than senior leaders or ministers themselves giving ritualistic speeches filled the party workers with a new vigour. There were no felicitations and no overflowing crowds. He spoke with only 50-60 people from each district,” said Nagpur Congress chief Jaiprakash Gupta.

Another leader,however,took a cynical view: “It’s just a booster dose for 2014 so the ground-level workers get charged up. And he has achieved that. Time only will tell if all the changes he is talking about will actually happen at any time in future.”