Rahul’s Plan B for UP: 100 youth workers

So what if it failed to dismiss the Mulayam Singh government in Uttar Pradesh? The Congress has other plans to revive the party in the heartland.

So what if it failed to dismiss the Mulayam Singh government in Uttar Pradesh? The Congress has other plans to revive the party in the heartland.

After months of boardroom simulations and software-aided social-engineering models, Rahul Gandhi has unveiled one such plan: he has drafted 100 youth workers from across the country to save the party in UP. They will focus on 100 constituencies where the party fared poorly in the last elections. “Your task is ensure the Congress gets 10,000 votes,” the young Gandhi told them during an interaction on Thursday.

Within the next few days, these recruits from states as far-flung as Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala will spread out into UP constituencies where the party has been securing 1,000 votes or less. They have been asked to report back before March 12 with a pick on the best candidate for the constituencies assigned to them. “The candidate need not necessarily be a Congressman. He could be a social worker or a teacher who has public acceptability,” the recruits have been briefed by Rahul’s managers.

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“How many of you think the Congress will win this time,” Rahul asked the recruits today. Not many. “How many of you think we will win five years later,” he asked again. Many raised their hand. “Our target is the next elections. And you will be doing politics for the next three decades at least,” he told them.

In his borderless labour recruitment policy, Rahul has set knowledge of Hindi as a mandatory eligibility criterion. They all have been given instructions on how to stay in touch with Rahul’s secretariat and also been told to be in touch with only him. The ‘Rahul brigade’ will have no linkage with the state unit or other AICC leaders in-charge. Party sources said Rahul has been unhappy with “lazy leaders” from the state, and the new attempt is to discover unconventional leadership for the party in the state.

Rahul has reportedly instructed all senior leaders of the party from the state to choose a constituency and contest. Congress also constituted a 34-member committee comprising all senior leaders and Union ministers from the state to strategise for the UP elections.

Rahul had asked the Youth Congress and NSUI to name prospective workers from all the states and made the selection personally, after going through their CVs. They will work in 50 teams of two each, with two constituencies under each team.

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The young Gandhi’s high-tech election management —aided by a group of foreign-educated enthusiasts— has left most UP Congressmen bewildered. His databank has constituency-wise details about caste, social indicators, Congress history etc.

Rahul has been interviewing ticket aspirants for each constituency. Here is a sample question: “How many people in your constituency are enrolled for the employment guarantee scheme?”

But an AICC secretary stumped Rahul recently during the interview. “Rahulji, please keep that laptop aside and come with me to UP… technology is no solution for our problem,” he reportedly said. However, gathering his wits soon enough, Rahul is back in action again.