BENGALURU: To groom a new generation of leaders, Congress will launch a membership registration drive to conduct internal elections for the Youth Congress between August 16 and September 16.
Deputy Chief Minister and KPCC president DK Shivakumar told the media that the process of creating new leaders has started across the country as Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has decided to nurture young leaders.
Shivakumar said internal polls will not give rise to factionalism as those who contest will get posts based on the votes. “Whoever gets the most votes will be the president. The second runner-up becomes the vice-president. There will be seven vice-presidents. If selection is done through recruitment then there is scope for groupism,” he said.
“There will be no counting of votes separately this time. As soon as a member casts his vote, it is credited to the candidate. We have further modified the election this time,” he said.
If youth want to become leaders at block, district and state levels, they should acquire leadership qualities and become leaders in the electoral arena, he said. “Presidents are being elected through polls in NSUI and Youth Congress. The elections will be conducted through the party election commission,” he said.
Reservations will be given to all categories, including women, SC/STs and minorities as in five districts including Ballari, Mandya, Bagalkot, Belagavi and Bengaluru Central, where reservation has been given to SC/STs. KPCC working president Manjunath Bhandari, party’s election in-charge, was also present.
As it has been 100 years since Mahatma Gandhi led the Grand Old Party, Congress and the government have decided to celebrate it in style. An advisory committee, chaired by Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil and former Union minister Veerappa Moily, will be formed to outline programmes for the government and party. BL Shankar will be the coordinator of the committee which includes 60 members including 15 presidents of various units of KPCC.