NEW DELHI: The wait is over for Team Rahul, a group of youth who have worked closely with the leader over the past decade, as the Gandhi family scion prepares to lead the Congress. The change of guard in the Congress is expected to take place next week, when Rahul will be formally declared elected unopposed as party president. The youngsters have worked with Rahul since he was made AICC general secretary in charge of the Youth Congress and the NSUI.
Terming Rahul’s elevation as an “emotional moment” for her, former NSUI chief Amrita Dhawan said she was “waiting to play a more active role in the party now”. “We have mostly been involved with student politics. Now we can look forward to getting a bigger platform and doing more mainstream politics,” Dhawan told The Sunday Standard.
According to Amrita, Rahul has been encouraging youngsters like her in the youth wing though they do not come from a political background.
Rohit Chaudhary, former NSUI chief who is now with the Delhi unit, too said he was hopeful of getting a bigger platform after Rahul’s ascension.
“It would be great to step up your profile,” he said. “I worked during the Delhi municipal bypolls in Kamboj Nagar,” said Chaudhary, who was an observer for the Karol Bagh area. He was Delhi University students’ union president in 2003.
Dhawan and Chaudhary are part of the hundreds of youth leaders who were interviewed by Rahul last year to prepare a talent pool which could be given key party roles when he took over as president.
Others like Jitu Patwari, Varsha Gaikwad and Tarun Kumar have been recently deployed as AICC secretaries in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
Rahul has been batting to bring in more youngsters into the party to keep in line with the changing political situation and to prepare the party for the 2019 national polls.
The plan was initiated as a counter to a section of veterans who wanted Rahul to stay party vice president, but were later pacified. They were told that the change of guard would ensure a mix of youth and experience, and that the seniors would not be removed in a single swoop, as many of them feared.
“The change would be gradual once Rahulji takes over,” said a senior AICC functionary.