Expert advice for Cong youth brigade

Significantly, there was no sign of indiscipline the Youth Congress is infamous for. In fact, some delegates even made intelligent submissions, while exchanging views with speakers and the audience.

‘‘The zonal meet is part of the nation-wide awakening programme revived after almost five years,’’ said Ashok Tanvar, president of the Indian Youth Congress. ‘‘We insisted on neutral experts because they can guide us selflessly.’’

The lessons revolved round the strategy of tackling the BJP. Prof Aditya Mukherjee (JNU) told delegates to question the party’s role in the freedom struggle. His colleague, Prof Mridula Mukherjee (JNU), dug into history to lash out at L.K. Advani’s statements about Mohammed Ali Jinnah, while Prof Anand Kumar chose to focus on India’s bid for permanent membership to the United Nations Security Council.

Others like Mumbai’s youngest MP Milind Deora explained the intricacies of the ‘Right to Information’ Bill while AICC general secretary Nirmal Khatri highlighted case studies of youths working in the villages.

We’ll remove over-age youth leaders: chief

Even as it deliberated leadership qualities, the Youth Congress had to grapple with the issue of overage leaders in their midst. ‘‘I agree we have people who have crossed 35 but there are no replacements for them. You can’t just give anybody the charge of running the units,’’ said Ashok Tanwar. —ENS