New Delhi: Faced with a tough election in Gujarat, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wants the party managers to give a decent share of tickets to youngsters, including women and wants the strategists to announce fresh faces on the seats which the party has been losing for the past years.
“The broad guideline is that tickets should be decided on the basis of accessibility, credibility and winnability of the aspirants. More youngsters, including women, will get an opportunity. We want to announce the first list by September 15,” AICC Secretary in charge of Gujarat BM Sandeep Kumar told ETV Bharat.
Rahul will be in Ahmedabad on September 5 and address a rally of around 52,000 party workers in the state capital. He is also expected to chair a party meeting to finalize norms for ticket distribution. The meeting would be attended by AICC screening committee chairman Ramesh Chennithala and members of the state election committee.
In the past, Rahul had said that participation in agitational programs and taking up public issues would be important factors which would have a role in the distribution of tickets. “I urge you all to be active on the ground. We have to be a strong opposition. If you don’t participate in agitations and then don’t get a ticket as a result, please don’t come to me complaining,” he had told a party gathering earlier.
In 2017, the Congress had won 77 out of 182 seats with the BJP at 99. The Congress had lost around 9 seats with a margin of less than 3000 and another 5-6 due to faulty ticket distribution, a post-poll assessment had revealed. Since then, the grand old party has lost 14 MLAs and is now down to 63 in the House. Many of the former Congress MLAs are now with the BJP.
While a section of state leaders wants the party to give tickets to all the sitting MLAs, there is a view within the AICC that fresh faces should be given a chance, including on the tough seats. “We want to announce fresh faces on the seats that we have been losing in the past. This would give the candidates more time to prepare the ground in their respective constituencies,” said Sandeep Kumar.
Upon instructions from AICC in charge Raghu Sharma, the state unit and the various observers are conducting a survey to identify the potential candidates. “Though the Congress has been in the opposition for 27 years, there is a rush for party tickets. There are around 3-4 serious aspirants on every seat,” said Kumar.
Party insiders welcomed the focus on youngsters but averred that neither youth, nor gender can be the sole criteria for ticket distribution. The party managers said these were broad guidelines from the high command and would be one the factors behind the selection of candidates. “The idea is to keep the entire process transparent,” said Kumar.
Also read: Rahul Gandhi likely to promise loan waiver, free power, MSP law during Gujarat rally
Yet, some senior state leaders cited that a young leader from the influential Patidar community, Hardik Patel recently left the Congress for BJP as he was miffed with senior state leadership. “Hardik’s exit would not make much difference to the Congress. Many of his supporters did not shift along with him,” AICC Secretary in charge of Gujarat Virendra Rathore told this channel.
“We too have Patidar leaders like Siddhartha Patel and Paresh Dhanani and others,” he said. The sceptics in the party further pointed out that another youth leader from the OBC community Alpesh Thakor had also left the Congress in the past.
“We were not wrong in bringing in the young leaders like Alpesh and Hardik. We brought them with much hope but they were driven by personal ambition and thought that they were bigger than the party,” said senior Gujarat Congress leader Siddhartha Patel. According to Patel, the party had learnt its lessons from the past, including the 2017 assembly polls, and was prepared to wrest power from the BJP this time.
“We have been surveying all the assembly constituencies over the past three months to identify the potential candidates. We will try to put out the first list, which will have around 20 per cent names, by September 20. This list would include both the seats that we have been losing and the ones that we hold. We would try to put out the final list by month end. There is going to be a greater focus on youth and women,” he said.
Noting that “ticket distribution is going to be extremely crucial for the party,” Patel said that “a survey about the performance of the sitting MLAs has also been done.” “Most of the sitting MLAs are likely to get a nomination but a few of them could be dropped because of the performance factor,” said Patel, adding that “nominating the sitting lawmakers has its own advantage while new faces sometimes make a difference.”
On party shifting to the BJP, the Congress veteran said that this time even the BJP would have a tough time distributing tickets. “Normally, the BJP drops many sitting MLAs to beat anti-incumbency. But this time they may not be able to do so. Further, the BJP would be under pressure to accommodate leaders they have taken from other parties even against the wishes of the saffron party’s local workers,” added Patel.
