Rahul Gandhi Asks Model State Gujarat To Appoint District Unit Chiefs By May End

Janjivan Bureau / New Delhi: The process of change in the Congress has begun with Rahul Gandhi asking the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and state observers to complete the process of appointing new district unit chiefs in Gujarat by May end. The western state has been selected as a model for the Congress organisational revamp across the country.
The directive came after Rahul held detailed meetings with the 43 AICC and 183 state observers named for the purpose, the state coordination committee and the workers on April 15 and 16. According to Congress insiders, an AICC observer aided by four state observers will now identify four or five talented local leaders in each district who will face interviews before one of them gets appointed as district unit chief.
The others will also be given party roles but the district unit chief will steer the party in his or her area. Besides, the person will also mobilise the locals to collect funds part of which will be used for organisation building. The district unit chiefs will also play a role in recommending candidates for local body, assembly and even parliamentary elections in the future.
“The entire process has to be completed in 45 days. The observers will identify a few talented persons in each district who will play key roles in the party henceforth. There will be a panel of such persons and the observers will hold consultations with each one of them. While one of them would be named the district unit chief the others will also have important roles to play and they will be given some posts also,” Gujarat Congress chief Shakti Sinh Gohil told ETV Bharat.
“The Gujarat model will later be implemented across the country,” he said. Until now, all such local level appointments were made on the recommendations of the senior leaders or the MLAs or MPs in a state.
According to Gohil, the AICC took care in naming the observers for the exercise and only those who were members of a state committee, MLA or former MLA, MP or former MP, former district unit chief or existing district chief, and officer bearers of party departments were selected.
During his interaction with the Gujarat workers, Rahul noted that the grand old party started from the western state and gave it two most powerful icons in Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel. The leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha also noted that if the BJP was to be defeated nationally, the beginning would be made in Gujarat.
“Gujarat is the most important state for us. We will fight and win here,” Rahul told the workers. “The former party chief said that while the organisation ensured the win of lawmakers, they used to forget the party later. He also said that many senior leaders were unable to win booths in their respective areas and noted the Congress needed to empower those who worked among the people and had their support at the booth level.