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Journalism of Courage
In what could drastically change the ticket distribution process in the Congress,party vice-president Rahul Gandhi has deployed a one-man mission to tour the country and gather feedback from the grassroots about prospective candidates for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Congress general secretary and member of its election coordination committee Madhusudan Mistry has been travelling across states to meet district Congress committee presidents to prepare a list of candidates for their respective parliamentary constituencies,it has been reliably learnt.
He was said to have covered around a dozen states so far,including Maharashtra,Chhattisgarh,Rajasthan,Madhya Pradesh and Punjab.
The exercise is likely to end the so-called quota system in distribution of tickets through which nominees of powerful leaders got preference. There has been growing demand in the party that senior leaders should be made liable for the success or failure of party candidates nominated by them. Even as Rahul is said to be working out ways to fix accountability,the latest exercise is set to drastically dilute the influence of powerful leaders in the ticket distribution process.
Before Mistry was deployed to meet DCC chiefs,Rahul had sent 55 observers across the country entrusting 10 Lok Sabha constituencies to each. They had a 15-point reference list of people who had to be contacted,viz.,ex-MPs,ex-MLAs,ex-Ministers,representatives of panchayati raj institutions among others. The observers submitted their reports recommending a panel of candidates for each seat. After Mistry submits his reports,independent agencies would be roped in to do another survey of candidates,according to Congress sources.
The usual process involving the setting up of screening committees for selection of candidates would also be followed. The objective behind sending observers and then Madhusudan Mistry is to have an independent feedback about prospective candidates, a senior Congress leader said.
The ongoing exercise has,however,ruffled feathers in the ruling party as powerful regional satraps perceive it as an attempt to undermine their influence. You may do any number of surveys,but the candidates will ultimately come to us to ask us to campaign for them. We are obviously expected to ensure the victory of candidates without having any role in their selection, said a senior Congress leader.
Sources,however,said senior leaders will be consulted about candidates in their areas of influence. For example,an MP will definitely be consulted when it comes to selecting MLA candidates in his constituency. Leaders with mass base will be consulted about MP candidates. Only that this democratic exercise will ensure that not one person has a final say, said a source.
