The state unit of Youth Congress is set to tryout a new formula—field new faces from among its cadre—to woo voters in next year’s polls to the Legislative Assembly. Members of the first elected body of the state unit of Youth Congress are holding talks with senior
Congress leaders on the issue of tickets for “promising” young men and women. “We have received applications from 45 ticket aspirants. We will shortlist good candidates and submit them to senior leaders of the party. We are aware that every seat counts in the forthcoming elections, so are striving to bring the party back to power. The Youth Congress is hopeful of getting 20 tickets this time,” state unit president Rizwan Arshad, told Deccan Chronicle, adding that his colleagues have already identified every constituency and its dynamics as part of its strategy to win as many seats in the state Assembly.
Mr Arshad, however, admitted that there was a leadership vacuum in some constituencies, while in others the rival parties had a formidable support base. “We want to focus on developing new leadership in constituencies which were previously held by Congress leaders. We are ready to take on stalwarts in the rival parties too,” he added. The Youth Congress leaders are confident of wresting a sizeable number of tickets in view of an assurance by KPCC president Dr G Parameshwar. “This time, we hope to field about 15 candidates from the Youth Congress. However, they too will have to go through out the screening procedure” says Dr G Parameshwar.
Wary of rubbing veterans on the wrong side, leaders of Youth Congress have been in touch with the top brass during the process of selection of candidates. “We started the process of shortlisting candidates early, and are in constant touch with seniors including leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, Siddaramaiah, and KPCC president Dr G Parameshwar to minimize the friction,” explained Mr Arshad.
He said “as a majority of our voters are youth, we will field young leaders and also ensure that the agenda for youth is set in the election manifesto, and their voices are heard in the Assembly and the Cabinet.”