Trinamool to induct 6 lakh young faces ahead of Bengal Assembly polls
KOLKATA: Responding to election strategist Prashant Kishor’s initiative to strengthen Trinamool Congress' ground-level battle line with young faces ahead of 2021 Assembly elections, more than 6 lakh youths without any previous political affiliation applied to join the ruling party.
The drive seeking membership application from young faces was initiated by Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), a team of Kishor who was hired by the TMC after its unimpressive performance in the 2019 general elections.
The I-PAC has approved applications of 1 lakh youths in the first phase after scanning the applicants’ CV and the joining session for the newcomer youths will start from Sunday. The new faces inducted in the party will be given training by Kishor’s team.
"The I-PAC is aimed at those who have never been involved in politics directly. The applicants are aged between 18 and 35 years. This generation of youths is the future of politics in Bengal. The party has planned to build up a young brigade in all the 294 assembly constituencies before the crucial elections slated to be held next year," said a senior Trinamool leader.
In a recent rejig in the party, young faces were given berths to the party’s district-level hierarchy. "The newcomers will play a key role in showcasing Mamata Banerjee-led state government’s slew of development works across Bengal. Kishor’s team will train them in which assembly constituencies, what will be the issues to highlight. For example, the issues to be highlighted in Junglemahal area will not similar to other areas," said the leader.
Elaborating on what prompted the party to induct youngsters another TMC leader said, though the party faced a debacle in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls the party's vote-share increased by 1 per cent. "Our internal assessment revealed a significant number of young electorates expressed their faith on the TMC while pressing EVM buttons. This is why we decided to bring the young faces of the electorates in the fold of our party. It will encourage others of their age group to strengthen our ground-level workforce," the leader said.
Over the next few months, the I-PAC will examine the applications and make the final list of selected applicants.