congress: Congress Chintan Shivir: Exception clauses kick in to defend ‘Congress household bushes’

Whereas the three-day Congress Chintan Shivir began in Udaipur on Friday with the AICC promising main guidelines for organisational restructure, limiting the hereditary proper on the get together ticket, promotions of youth in any respect ranges of management and cooling off intervals for office-bearers after a 5-year stint, concurrently the management and delegates additionally began pushing for ‘exception clauses’ that might not solely shield the dynastic pursuits of entrenched and widespread ‘Congress household bushes’ beginning with the Gandhis-Vadra management however will even cushion different proposals even because the proposed 50% reservation for the under-50 class can be rolled out throughout the prevailing quotas so the lodging might be executed vis a vis different classes, together with many seniors.

Extra debates on these are anticipated until late hours of Friday as, on the timing of writing, the delegates in six teams have been nonetheless engaged in closed door dialogue.

If the pre-session experiences in regards to the draft proposal of the Congress committee on organisation pitching for ‘one-family-one-ticket’ norm created some in-house pleasure, it additionally led to as a lot ‘raised-brows’ among the many highly effective military of the entrenched get together leaders whose backing to the Gandhi-Vadra management can be linked to they too getting a free hand to create personal ‘household bushes’. Additionally, ‘one member of the family’ clause additionally resulted in lots of questioning whether or not the third member of the Gandhi-Vadra household, Priyanka will not contest polls.

The reply to all this got here on Friday within the type of an “exception cluse” that AICC common secretary Ajay Maken rolled out whilst he tried make the ‘one-family-one-ticket’ the big-ticket transfer of the get together. “There’s full unanimity on the one family-one ticket proposal. The sensation is that if a second member desires a ticket to contest he/she ought to have labored a minimum of 5 years within the get together organisation. It meant leaders cannot hand over the ticket to a member of the family who has not labored for the get together,” Maken stated.

Nonetheless, what this actually meant was that leaders and their son/daughter already in legislatures could have no downside in getting tickets once more. Even non-legislators’ sons/daughters can discover a simple method out as highly effective political households at all times guarantee their chosen inheritor will get enrolled as get together member in some panels principally from their teenagers. Whereas no such norms want be anticipated to be utilized on Sonia Gandhi and Rahul, as they’re serving and former get together chiefs respectively, Vadra has organisation file of precisely 5 years, from 2017 when she debuted as AICC common secretary. Maken additionally stated the problem of Congress management will not be the topic of the Shivir dialogue as it’s linked to organisational polls.

On the opening day, the leaders highlighted the “youth agenda” — that each get together committee proper as much as CWC could have 50% illustration for leaders underneath 50. Some delegates, even whereas welcoming it, are learnt to have pressed for a realistic strategy of mutual lodging. There’s a chance of this 50% youth quota to be rolled throughout the get together’s present quota for girls (33%) and for SC-ST-OBC-minorities (which is anticipated to go up above the present 20%) in order that area is discovered for accommodating sufficient “50 plus “leaders as nicely indispensable “veterans”. Some delegates felt the cooling-off interval could also be made solely from the actual put up a frontrunner has been holding.

The Shivir will even come out with a proposal for the get together establishing a Public Perception Division to gauge public temper on points.

Delegates in opposition to Congress blindly looking for allies

Many delegates felt the Congress cannot go blindly looking for allies because it has to guard its personal electoral area and should hold off from these anti-BJP allies who’re plotting to eat up the Congress conventional votes. This meant, resistance from many in opposition to any overtures to TMC, AAP, TRS, BJD.

“First, we wish to set proper our personal home. We wish to make the Congress folks extra lively and extra highly effective after which we are going to go to others…,” stated Mallikarjun Kharge.