Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s tour of Madhya Pradesh last week has accelerated the Youth Congress membership drive in the state and generated enthusiasm among the youth, especially with his announcement that his immediate job is to restructure the youth wing of the party and open the doors of politics for the young generation.
The Madhya Pradesh Youth Congress membership drive started on September 29 and will continue till October 28. It will take about 30 to 45 days to digitise all data. This would be followed by scrutiny, primary publication of data, calling of objections and the final publication of voters’ list. The state Youth Congress election schedule is likely to be announced later in December or in January 2011.
Beginning his Madhya Pradesh tour from Sheopur in Gwalior division bordering Rajastan on October 4, Mr Gandhi told the potential Youth Congress candidates that all decisions regarding the appointment of Youth Congress office bearers was earlier taken by the party “kshatraps” (local chieftains). The Youth Congress posts would now be filled through election, he went on to declare. Under the new regime, obviously the membership drive would get more weightage. Addressing the youth belonging to Scheduled Caste communities at Tikamgarh, Mr Gandhi said more and more youth leaders from the scheduled castes should join the Youth Congress. He urged them to remain alert and remain in the forefront when it comes to doing the social audit of the implementation of the `3760 crore Bundelkhand package approved for that region by the UPA government.
Going beyond the youth, Mr Gandhi had a detailed interaction with elected representatives, including MLAs, zila panchayat and local bodies at Rewa and said that they should all work to ensure the proper implementation and protection of the rights of the common people as guaranteed by the Constitution (73th and 74the Amendment) Acts. He urged the elected representatives to closely monitor centrally sponsored schemes like Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and cooperate in enrolling new members for the Youth Congress.
At Lakhnadon in Seoni district, Mr Gandhi met youth leaders belonging to Scheduled Tribes and gave a call for building leadership among the tribals and for the tribal cause. He drew their attention towards non-implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act and the difficulties being faced by the forest dwellers as a consequence.
Mr Gandhi’s interaction with potential candidates turned into a condolence meeting due to the sudden demise of the district Congress president and former state minister, Ashok Sable.
In the last leg of his journey, Mr Gandhi met tribal youth leaders at Sendhwa in Badwani district and followed it up with intense discussions with potential candidates, state Congress executive committee members, district party presidents, elected representatives and leaders from the Youth belonging the scheduled castes, and minorities.