congress: Congress Chintan Shivir: Exception clauses kick in to shield ‘Congress family trees’

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 occasion 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 will not solely shield the dynastic pursuits of entrenched and widespread ‘Congress household timber’ beginning with the Gandhis-Vadra management however may also cushion different proposals even because the proposed 50% reservation for the under-50 class can be rolled out throughout the present quotas so the lodging will be performed 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 occasion leaders whose backing to the Gandhi-Vadra management can also be linked to they too getting a free hand to create personal ‘household timber’. 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 basic secretary Ajay Maken rolled out whilst he tried make the ‘one-family-one-ticket’ the big-ticket transfer of the occasion. “There may be 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 no less than 5 years within the occasion organisation. It meant leaders cannot hand over the ticket to a member of the family who has not labored for the occasion,” Maken stated.

Nonetheless, what this actually meant was that leaders and their son/daughter already in legislatures may have no drawback in getting tickets once more. Even non-legislators’ sons/daughters can discover a straightforward means out as highly effective political households all the time guarantee their chosen inheritor will get enrolled as occasion 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 occasion chiefs respectively, Vadra has organisation document of precisely 5 years, from 2017 when she debuted as AICC basic secretary. Maken additionally stated the problem of Congress management is just not 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 occasion committee proper as much as CWC may have 50% illustration for leaders below 50. Some delegates, even whereas welcoming it, are learnt to have pressed for a practical strategy of mutual lodging. There’s a chance of this 50% youth quota to be rolled throughout the occasion’s current quota for ladies (33%) and for SC-ST-OBC-minorities (which is predicted to go up above the present 20%) in order that house is discovered for accommodating sufficient “50 plus “leaders as properly 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 may also come out with a proposal for the occasion establishing a Public Perception Division to gauge public temper on points.

Delegates in opposition to Congress blindly trying to find allies

Many delegates felt the Congress cannot go blindly seeking allies because it has to guard its personal electoral house and should maintain 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 need to set proper our personal home. We need to make the Congress folks extra lively and extra highly effective after which we are going to go to others…,” stated Mallikarjun Kharge.