New Delhi, May 25
The Congress-led government may be staffed by “the same old faces” but the party organisation is all set to acquire a young look.
The host of young, first-time MPs, including Rahul
Gandhi, have been deliberately kept out of government. They will instead be inducted into the party organisation or drafted for
parliamentary duties, it is learnt.
A revamp in the Congress organisation is on the anvil now that several senior party general secretaries have moved to the government. Many other veterans could well be shifted out as governors to replace the earlier government’s political
appointees. Among the names doing the rounds include Mohsina Kidwai and R.K.Dhawan.
The basic objective of involving the young MPs in the party set-up and in parliamentary work is two-fold.
It will give them an opportunity to learn the ropes in legislative functioning and involve them in strengthening the party organisation. At the same time, having them at the helm of affairs will help attract young members to the party fold.
While Rahul Gandhi has already gone on record to say that he will work to strengthen the party organisation, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, other first-timers like Sachin Pilot, Jatin Prasad and Milind Deora are also expected to be entrusted with organisational duties.
Others like Ajay Maken and Jyotiraditya Scindia are likely to be appointed parliamentary secretaries, it is learnt.
“We want the youngsters to realise they would have to work for the party organisation before they can get a ticket or aspire for a government post,” explained a senior Congress leader.
It is being pointed out that this is the first time that the Congress has a full-fledged president when the party is in power. With Mrs. Sonia Gandhi heading the organisation and devoting more time to strengthening the party, it is expected that more and more people will be encouraged to emulate her example.
In fact, the leadership is expected to chalk out a plan for the rejuvenation of the organisation. Congress sources said since the party is now in power, it will have to shift gears and move from its earlier agitational mode to party-building.
It was stated that the organisational elections, which were earlier deferred to middle of this year because of the Lok Sabha polls, could be postponed till the year-end to enable them to
enroll more members.”
Now that the party is in power and people are positively inclined towards the Congress, we feel this is a good opportunity to get younger people into the organisation,” said a senior Congress leader.
