BENGALURU: For the first time, a Congress leader from Karnataka has been appointed as president of the Indian Youth Congress. Three months after he took over as the IYC chief, BV Srinivas from Shivamogga is now busy travelling across the country to strengthen the organisation. In an interview to The New Sunday Express, he terms IYC as the real opposition to Modi government and plans to take the Youth Congress to campuses to get new voters into the party fold. Srinivas and his team have an ambitious plan of enrolling 3 crore members across the country.
Excerpts:
How do you plan to strengthen the IYC?
Rahul Gandhi has given such a big responsibility to an ordinary party worker like me. The leadership has identified my work at different levels and given me this responsibility at a time when our party is going through difficult times. In the last three months, we organised a number of rallies and conducted door-to-door campaigns in Maharashtra and Haryana before the assembly polls. We believe that helped the party to some extent. We will continue to fight against the central government’s failures, especially economic slowdown caused by its wrong policies. Now we are not in power at the Centre and in many states. We have to work to make the party strong and cadre-based. As a party worker, I know the sentiments of ordinary workers and I am spending maximum time with them. We will identify and encourage loyal workers in the party.
What is Youth Congress’ role in reviving the party?
Whenever the party faced difficulties, frontal organisations played an important role. We will work hard to strengthen the party at all levels and also come up with a number of initiatives to bring new voters to the party.
Will you restart the training programme for Youth Congress leaders?
Yes, we will restart the system of conducting orientation and training programmes for our workers at Assembly, Lok Sabha and state level leaders. We will also try to bridge the gap between senior leaders and IYC members. We are making efforts to identify talent at various levels and bring the people into the party and also recognise their good work. Training programme will focus on strategies to strengthen the party, re-emphasising on Mahatma Gandhi’s ideology and party’s ideology among our workers and developing their leadership qualities.
What do you say about divergent views among Congress leaders on important issues like Article 370 or Veer Savarkar?
We are not ready to accept Savarkar as a freedom fighter. The BJP is trying to politicise the issue. It is an attempt to mislead people.
What was the Youth Congress role in flood relief works?
We worked extensively to provide relief to people in flood relief areas in Bihar, Karnataka and other places. BJP was busy with its membership drive when we were helping people. From Youth Congress, we also sent 15 truckloads of relief materials to flood-hit regions in Karnataka.
Any plans to change IYC’s image so that it can connect better with youngsters?
In New Delhi, there is an impression that the Youth Congress is the real opposition that can fight for just causes across the country. Yes, it is also the real opposition to Modi government.
How do you plan to attract youth to IYC when the Congress is finding it difficult to fight back?
We will go to campuses and also hold interactions with private firms to understand their requirement to make youth job-ready. We are fully confident that Congress will form a government under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership after the next Lok Sabha polls.