In this birth place of Vallabhacharya, the Congress Seva Dal plans to teach its men a few political lessons in view of the coming Assembly polls. At its 12-day Prashikshan Shivir beginning this Wednesday, over 300 Seva Dal activists, drawn from the states going to the polls this year end, will get some ready-to-use tips to counter the RSS-VHP impact.In all, over 1,600 Seva Dal delegates from all over the country are expected to attend the shivir. Some of the top panelists invited to the shivir include Dr Manmohan Singh, Balram Jakhar, Arjun Singh and Suresh Pachauri, beside Chief Ministers Ashok Gehlot, Digvijay Singh, Ajit Jogi and Sheila Dixit.RSS renegade Dr R.S. Goel has specially been summoned to speak on the Sangh Parivar and its ‘‘role’’ in the elections in favour of the BJP. Congress president Sonia Gandhi will also fly to Champaran on September 1 to address trained Seva Dal delegates on the last day of their training. Admits Prahalad Yadav, Seva Dal’s chief organiser who, along with a 50-member advance team, has already reached Champaran: ‘‘Elections in the four Congress-ruled states — Delhi, MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh — are crucial to the party. We will train Seva Dal delegates from these states to counter the Sangh Parivar. We failed in Gujarat but followed that up with Himachal Pradesh where we managed to check the Parivar.’’‘‘We are holding this camp because this time, we have all the information on their game plan for Chhattisgarh, MP and Rajasthan,’’ says Yadav. At the camp, the delegates will be taught subjects ranging from elections to foreign policy, defence, economic reforms to issues like militancy and communal forces. Self defence, meditation, yoga, karate, aerobics and physical drills are some of other subjects listed in the course.‘‘Familiarising Seva Dal activists with the Electronic Voting Machines, voters’ lists and bringing voters upto the polling booths are also issues which will be taught at the camp,’’ Chander Shekhar Vajpayee, a camp instructor says.
