I've a plan: Rahul to democratise Congress
AICC Gen Secy’s ‘Think Tank’ prepares draft report on intra-party reforms.
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: While campaigning for the recent Karnataka assembly elections, Congress scion Rahul Gandhi had raised uncomfortable questions about the lack of ���internal democracy��� in India���s political parties, including his own.
Now, a group within the Congress, identified as Mr Gandhi���s think tank, has finalised extensive proposals for ushering in democracy within the party organisation.
A draft report prepared by the party���s ���Group on Future Challenges��� , dealing primarily with intra-party reforms, will be submitted to Congress president Sonia Gandhi soon, party���s media department chairman Veerappa Moily said.
The report, which according to Mr Moily, has set out the contours of a ���holistic major reform package��� , will focus on having innerparty elections from the grassroots or booth-level ; giving youth a chance to participate in politics; and build up a base of loyal party workers who will the spread word about the Congress��� efforts in and out of power.
Mr Moily explained the last point in the proposal as a bid to take the Congress from being a ���mass-based party��� in the direction of a ���cadre-based party��� . Another member of committee sought to explain this by saying the Congress was looking for people ���who will work at election and non-election time���.
Mr Moily illustrated choice of the word ���cadre��� , which is usually associated with the dedicated workers of a party such as the CPM, by saying Congress wanted to find people who would ���connect��� the party to the masses by publicising its programmes; communicating the UPA government���s achievements and take on the Opposition���s claims.
���The Congress is the best brand (among political parties).... we���ll have to create salesmen,��� he said.
However, the thrust of the report will be to ���democratise the party��� , one member of the group said.
The leader explained that the idea was to take the Kerala Congress unit���s model of holding inner-party elections from the booth level and ���enlarge it to the extent possible��� .
The report, which is a joint effort of Digvijay Singh, Vayalar Ravi, Anand Sharma, Prithviraj Chavan, Mukul Wasnik, Salman Khursheed, Dr Parmeshwar, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sandeep Dikshit, Sachin Pilot and Jairam Ramesh other than Mr Moily and Mr Gandhi, will also have recommendations and guidelines on the distribution of tickets and media management.
As an oldtime Congress hand recalled, there was a time in the Congress when there was an election for the topmost slot, between Indira Gandhi and Morarji Desai in 1969. But as evidenced in the recent Karnataka elections, the party���s decision to keep out relatives of established leaders, if not deemed fit to win, went down very badly.
Now, a group within the Congress, identified as Mr Gandhi���s think tank, has finalised extensive proposals for ushering in democracy within the party organisation.
A draft report prepared by the party���s ���Group on Future Challenges��� , dealing primarily with intra-party reforms, will be submitted to Congress president Sonia Gandhi soon, party���s media department chairman Veerappa Moily said.
The report, which according to Mr Moily, has set out the contours of a ���holistic major reform package��� , will focus on having innerparty elections from the grassroots or booth-level ; giving youth a chance to participate in politics; and build up a base of loyal party workers who will the spread word about the Congress��� efforts in and out of power.
Mr Moily explained the last point in the proposal as a bid to take the Congress from being a ���mass-based party��� in the direction of a ���cadre-based party��� . Another member of committee sought to explain this by saying the Congress was looking for people ���who will work at election and non-election time���.
Mr Moily illustrated choice of the word ���cadre��� , which is usually associated with the dedicated workers of a party such as the CPM, by saying Congress wanted to find people who would ���connect��� the party to the masses by publicising its programmes; communicating the UPA government���s achievements and take on the Opposition���s claims.
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���The Congress is the best brand (among political parties).... we���ll have to create salesmen,��� he said.
However, the thrust of the report will be to ���democratise the party��� , one member of the group said.
The leader explained that the idea was to take the Kerala Congress unit���s model of holding inner-party elections from the booth level and ���enlarge it to the extent possible��� .
The report, which is a joint effort of Digvijay Singh, Vayalar Ravi, Anand Sharma, Prithviraj Chavan, Mukul Wasnik, Salman Khursheed, Dr Parmeshwar, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sandeep Dikshit, Sachin Pilot and Jairam Ramesh other than Mr Moily and Mr Gandhi, will also have recommendations and guidelines on the distribution of tickets and media management.
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However, the idea of holding elections within the party from the booth-level , which is in contrast to the Congress��� current mode of nominating people to party posts, will ultimately lead to demands for the process to be emulated at higher levels of the party, such as in the working committee (CWC). As an oldtime Congress hand recalled, there was a time in the Congress when there was an election for the topmost slot, between Indira Gandhi and Morarji Desai in 1969. But as evidenced in the recent Karnataka elections, the party���s decision to keep out relatives of established leaders, if not deemed fit to win, went down very badly.
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Also, Mr Gandhi���s utterances about the nomination culture in his party and his remarks on the hold of the ���high command��� (of which he is a veritable part) have made the older generation of Congresspersons uncomfortable. The CWC, which is the highest decision-making body of the party, is packed with nominated members who will not take kindly to any project directed at undercutting their authority.
The proposals will ultimately raise questions about whether Mr Gandhi, part of the next generation of Nehru-Gandhis , is himself is fit to head the party.
However, having broached this brave subject, it remains to be seen how far Mr Gandhi will go in his efforts . If he is able to turn the party around, then he would have won his place at the top of the organisation . The report is likely to chart out the road map for Mr Gandhi���s ideas of where the 122-year-old Congress must go, at a time when it is facing its biggest electoral and organisational challenges.
ROAD MAP
Focus on inner-party elections from the grassroots or booth-level .
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Give youth a chance to participate in politics.
Build up a base of loyal party workers who will the spread word about the Congress��� efforts in and out of power.
POTHOLES
The idea
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of holding elections within the party from the booth-level , which is in contrast to the Congress��� current mode of nominating people to party posts, will ultimately lead to demands for the process to be emulated at higher levels of the party, such as in the working committee (CWC).
The CWC,
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which is the highest decisionmaking body of the party, is packed with nominated members who will not take kindly to any project directed at undercutting their authority.
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