Rahul Gandhi pitches for strengthening party at grassroots level

DEHRADUN: Congress Vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who is on his maiden visit to the state post his elevation, today pitched for strengthening the party at the grass-roots level.

Rahul, who held closed-door meetings with state Congress leaders, pitched for delegating more powers to organisational units at block and district levels.

The Congress leader also underscored the need for defining the role of party office bearers at block and district levels.

The Amethi MP, who was on a stock-taking mission to the state, met party office bearers and leaders in separate sessions.

Fresh from holding a second round of consultations with AICC office-bearers in Delhi, Rahul headed straight to a hotel here after landing in the morning at Jollygrant airport and was closeted with party functionaries for over about two hours before lunch.

He met party MLAs, district and block level heads, NSUI and PCC office bearers before leaving for New Delhi in the evening.

Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, Congress MPs Satpal Maharaj, Pradeep Tamta, Union Minister Harish Rawat, state Congress chief Yashpal Arya and vice-president Suryakant Dhasmana were present with Rahul as he met party workers.

Tight security arrangements were put in place in the city in view of the Congress Vice President's visit, especially around Rajpur Road where he held meetings with the party leaders at a hotel.

Rahul's visit is being seen as an exercise to prepare Congress for the forthcoming civic body polls in the state and the 2014 general elections.

Rahul had decided to have interactions with state-level leaders beginning with a two-day visit to Odisha last month, where he had sought feedback from grassroots workers in the state.