Is YC membership drive proving a damp squib?

Raipur, January 29, 2010

The ambitious membership campaign of Youth Congress (YC) might prove to be a damp squib in the backdrop of the ongoing three-phase panchayat elections. Against the targeted membership of about 7-8 lakh youths across the state in 28 days, it is feared that the YC leaders may end up the campaign with merely two lakh.

A number of YC leaders think that the membership drive has failed at its very take-off point.  “We knew that this drive would not be a success because of its time of commencement. The national leadership should have chalked out proper strategy before launching this drive in Chhattisgarh and must have taken the panchayat polls and the activism they called for, into consideration. Ideally, the drive should have been kicked off after March 2010,” said some YC members. They also felt that the duration of 28 days was also not enough to connect about eight lakh people. They hoped that the duration would be further stretched on or before the end of the drive, i. e. on February 18.

Some of the YC members feel that the membership drive has lost its glamour because it was launched in haste. According to plans, either Sachin pilot, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Milind Devra or any other young face of Congress was supposed to initiate the drive, but Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprise Arun Yadav was a surprise guest for the purpose. Union Home Minister P Chidambaram whose visit to Raipur on naxal issue, coincided with the launch of YC membership drive, was the last minute invitee as chief guest, they said.

“In addition, the present movements of YC leaders are not organised as they are concentrating on urban areas and completely ignoring the rural pockets. This is against the Congress culture. The rural India has always been our stronghold for past six decades and if we neglect the youth from these regions, we will not be able to regain power in the state,” the YC members added.

The only inspirational figure for YC is   the AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi who is expected to arrive in the capital in the first week of February and is likely to stay for three days during which he will travel all the Lok Sabha areas and address the YC members.