Cong in poll mode: Steps up manifesto preparation
A dedicated website will be launched to enable the people to give their inputs
NEW DELHI: The Congress has swung into the election mode and stepped up its manifesto preparations for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
In its bid to draft a “people’s manifesto”, the Congress is set to seek suggestions from the public on the issues to be incorporated in its poll document, a practice followed by the grand old party since 2014.
The manifesto contains promises, programmes and policies of the party for the next five years, if voted to power.
A dedicated website will also be launched to enable the people to give their inputs, said a Congress leader familiar with the developments.
The party will also interact with different sections of the society for their feedback on critical issues confronting the nation.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi had in August this year set up a 19-member manifesto committee that comprises of P Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh, Manpreet Singh Badal, Sushmita Dev, Rajeev Gowda, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Salman Khurshid, Bindu Krishnan, Kumari Selja, Raghuveer Meena, Balchandra Mungekar, Meenakshi Natarajan, Rajni Patil, Sam Pitroda, Sachin Rao, Tamradhwaj Sahu, Mukul Sangma, Shashi Tharoor and Lalitesh Tripathi.
On Friday, the party has also called a meeting of its secretaries to discuss the ongoing ‘Jan Sampark Abhiyan (door-to-door mass contact programme)” and also the fund-raising campaign.
The secretaries will have to give a report card on the formation of booth committees and identification of ‘Sahyogis (coordinators)’.
Apart from data collection of voters and donors, the status of formation and uploading the data on booth, block, district and state committees thorough Shakti, a project launched to connect with the workers.
A discussion will also be held on the monthly and other special reports filed by the secretaries, the party leader said, adding the office bearers will be told about the procedure of filing such reports.
FORMER IFS OFFICER JOINS CONGRESS
Former IFS officer Satendar Kumar joined the Congress in the presence of senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and Uttar Pradesh PCC chief Raj Babbar Tuesday.
Welcoming Kumar’s decision, Azad said the Congress was the only party that could keep the unity and integrity of the country intact.
He added that Kumar, a former Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer who retired on June 30, had decided to join the party along with his supporters.
Kumar, who hails from the Dalit community in Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, has held several important positions on foreign shores and was also the consul general of lndia in Zanzibar and ambassador of lndia to the Republic of Suriname.