Rahul Gandhi pushes for transparent polls in Congress

NEW DELHI: Serial electoral defeats and growing in-house skepticism over his experiments have not diminished Rahul Gandhi’s quest for ensuring "transparent and democratic organisational elections" in Congress, which like its counterparts, follow the tradition of managing as much consensus as possible through nominations of office bearers.

Addressing a meeting of all PCC presidents and AICC general secretaries in Delhi on Tuesday, Gandhi asserted the upcoming organisational elections should be utilised to "reinvigorate and rejuvenate" the party following the debacle in the Lok Sabha and assembly polls.

However, there are indications that Gandhi has agreed to show "pragmatic flexibility" not to insist on "imposing elections" in cases where a unifying "unanimity" could be attained. While most PCC leaders agree the principle of holding "true organisational elections", there are also many who want to ensure such elections don’t lead to a spurt in factionalism and moneypower to win the elections, something saw in many states during the Youth Congress "elections".

There were also allegations that organisational elections have been marred by bogus membership by rival factions to have control over the party. In his first meeting with PCC chiefs after Congress defeat, Gandhi wanted the organisational elections to be "free, fair and transparent."