With the party in the Centre all set to prepare for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections under direct guidance of general secretary Rahul Gandhi, the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) is now easing into poll mode.
Sources in the party said that four observers appointed by the high command toured the State over the last few weeks and met party functionaries across parliamentary constituencies in an attempt to identify potential candidates to field in the elections. A report on this would soon be submitted to the party top brass overseeing the poll preparations.
Meanwhile, TNCC president B S Gnanadesikan is all set to begin his State-wide tour from January. Speaking to Express, he said that the tour would involve visit to three constituencies every day and talks with party functionaries at the grassroots level. This was mainly an attempt to boost the morale of the cadre in run up to the polls, he said. One of the important ideas behind the tour was also to mobilise party funds for the elections. “Unlike the Dravidian majors, the Congress has been out of power for sometime. It is always a task to mobilise funds,” he opined.
Unlike in the past when factionalism had ripped the State unit, the party was putting up a united face now. This had received good response from the public, which turned up in huge numbers in the recent rallies, he claimed.
Gnanadesikan said a campaign to hoist the party flag in all villages across the State would be taken up. “High-profile leaders of the party would be asked to tour a particular area and hoist the flags, culminating in a public meet at the end of the day,” he pointed out. Also, the party will distribute a five-page pamphlet on the achievements of the UPA, to the people.
“As far as my personal impression goes, the cadre of the party is still intact. But we need to activate them,” he said and added that he would specifically meet those who had fought the local body elections last year despite the fact that the party went it alone.