It isn't just in the sustained campaigning by Rahul Gandhi that this Uttar Pradesh election marks a departure for the Congress. For the first time,the party known to decide candidates on the eve of filing of nomination papers has a proper organisational and management system to plan and fight the elections,support its candidates,monitor all activity and take corrective measures promptly. Throughout the chain,the seats are clearly notified,responsibilities defined,the people in-charge identified,and leaders brought in from outside for monitoring. Rahul has been canvassing in the state since November,the longest period devoted by the Nehru-Gandhi family to the state. Courtesy his involvement,the famously fractious Congress has also managed to keep dissension in check. It is a far cry from the old Congress ways of candidates being announced at the last moment and being left to their own devices,except for some material support from the AICC and campaign tours of star campaigners,said a senior party leader. Congress general secretary in-charge of UP Digvijaya Singh said the early announcement of candidates helped eliminate rebel candidates by giving the party time to pacify those who had not got tickets. It also gave time to candidates to get familiar with their constituencies and plan their campaign. The hierarchy At the top is Digvijaya Singh,who heads the new system and reports directly to Rahul. Assisting Digvijaya are two AICC secretaries and an MP from Rajasthan. While AICC secretary Parvez Hashmi camps in Delhi and looks after party affairs of western UP,secretary Avinash Pandey holds the charge of eastern UP and is camping in Varanasi. In Lucknow,young Rajasthan MP Harish Chaudhary helps out Digvijaya Singh. This is the first time the Congress is fighting election as a political party,not as individual candidates, Digvijaya Singh admits. Also,we are much better organised and tech-savvy. Triple HQ The nerve centre is three call centres. One functions from Rahuls Delhi office,a second has been set up at the state Congress headquarters in Lucknow,and a third at the Youth Congress office in the state capital. Equipped with computers and the internet,these call centres work 24×7 to assist the candidates. Simple matters like getting appointments from star campaigners,finalising their logistics,helicopter movements,helping send letters and complaints to the Election Commission are all managed from the call centres,which are run by young people armed with data,election rules,information about the code of conduct,as well as the necessary contact numbers. They help candidates deal with problems,and have the authority to directly connect the candidates with party leaders. Zonal breakup Given the large size of UP,for administrative purposes,the state has been divided into 10 zones for better execution of plans. Each zone roughly covers eight Lok Sabha constituencies and about 40 Assembly seats,with the charge held by a senior leader from another state. These 10 zonal heads report regularly to Digvijaya Singh. Below each of these zonal in-charges are eight observers,one for each Lok Sabha constituency,and taking care of five Assembly seats. They stay in touch with the candidates and booth-level workers,sort out local coordination problems,and inform Lucknow or Delhi if there is an issue that requires handling at a higher level. This administrative structure was created months in advance and was used to collect feedback about ticket aspirants and select candidates. Mission 85 Special teams have been set up to focus on 85 reserved constituencies and on 36 seats where Youth Congress candidates are contesting. There are teams at the booth,district and state levels,given specific instructions and roles. In case of the reserved constituencies,the overall responsibility of the Mission 85 team,as it is called,rests with P L Punia,party MP and chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes,and MP Ashok Tanwar. In each reserved constituency,an SC leader from another state has been posted to ensure coordination and implementation of the election plan in consultation with the candidate and to act as the link between him and the leadership. Virender Singh Rathore and Himmat Singh,general secretary and secretary respectively of the Youth Congress,are managing the affairs in the 36 seats from where young candidates are contesting. Here too,IYC has appointed leaders from other states to camp in the constituencies to coordinate the campaign. The call centre at the IYC office in Lucknow exclusively services these 36 constituencies. Coaching class Booth-level workers have for the first time received training. In the past,the Congress booth management was always weak because the committees had been hastily set up. This time,professionals working with the Jawaharlal Nehru Leadership Institute,established by Rahul for training of Youth Congress members,trained master coaches who,in turn,trained booth-level workers. Besides,zone-wise,meetings were addressed by trainers,professionals and senior party leaders. Each candidate was asked to send five people,one of whom had to be a lawyer,and these people in turn trained booth-level workers in their constituencies. Says former Madhya Pradesh MP Rameshwar Nikhra,one of the zonal heads: Apart from contesting my own elections,I have worked for the party in elections in Karnataka,West Bengal and recently in Bihar. But this time,we are better organised than anywhere else.
