Rahul Gandhi set to tone up Congress party’s functioning

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One-line resolutions from states authorising the Congress high command to decide candidates in elections could be a thing of the past with Rahul Gandhi set to tone up the functioning of the party.

The Congress sources said Rahul, who has called a meeting of the PCC presidents and the CLP leaders here on February 15, could instead ask for elaborate procedures to make ticket distribution a foolproof affair.

This will be the first meeting Rahul will have with state leaders after his elevation as the Congress vice-president. He has often lamented about the absence of rules and regulations governing the organisation.

Consultations by the Congress vice-president are expected to be a day-long affair at a time when party men have been increasingly voicing concern over the ticket distribution process. The meeting assumes significance as Assembly elections of nine states, including Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Delhi, are scheduled this year and Lok Sabha elections are not far away.

The Jaipur declaration, which was evolved at the recently concluded ‘chintan shivir’ of the party, has made a strong case for an overhaul of the ticket distribution system.

“Nepotism in the organisation’s structure is a cause of great concern and there is a need to arrest this tendency firmly,” it had said, insisting that there must be a robust and efficient system for monitoring and appraising performance of the party functionaries on a regular basis.

The declaration held, “It is of utmost importance that when senior party leaders recommend particular candidates they must own responsibility in case of failure.”

Another key decision at the ‘chintan shivir’ was that winnability alone should not be the benchmark for deciding nominees of the party during elections and a balance is required between loyalty and winnability.