By IANS
New Delhi : The Congress that has been facing electoral reverses is on a talent hunt – on the advice of general secretary Rahul Gandhi – to pluck out youngsters who can help boost the party’s prospects.
A 17-member committee, headed by senior Congress leader Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, will travel to all the states looking for young men and women from ordinary families who can contribute their bit to the country’s oldest political party.
The idea has come from Rahul Gandhi, son of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and a first time MP, who feels this is the only way to inject badly needed young blood in the party.
“The Congress wants talented youngsters to work in the mainstream. Some of them are already working in the India Youth Congress or with the National Students Union of India (NSUI),” Congress general secretary B.K. Hariprasad, a member of the special committee, told IANS.
The team, which does not have a formal name but is being referred to as Talent Search Committee, has already visited Haryana and held discussions with leaders and activists of the Youth Congress and NSUI.
The team will visit other states in the coming weeks. “It is to streamline the functioning of the youth wings,” Hariprasad said.
Congress leaders said both the party leadership and Rahul Gandhi, who took charge of the Youth Congress and the NSUI in September last year, were not happy with their functioning.
“There is not much contribution from the youth wings for the party. We hardly have activists, all of them are leaders,” a senior Congress minister complained.
Gandhi’s suggestion had drawn some criticism.
“Now, the Congress is seeking good looking and Internet savvy people to work for the party,” quipped a party leader.
Hariprasad defended the talent hunt. “We want ordinary people who have the talent and will work for the country.”
Amethi MP Gandhi, seen by his admirers as a future prime minister, will also take out a Discovery of India journey in the first week of March in what is considered another move to woo young voters.
On Thursday, after his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), Rahul told reporters that his India march would be launched March 6 or 7 from Orissa.
Although the next general elections are due in 2009, there is growing feeling that the Congress would prefer it later this year.