After BJP’s ‘booth vistarak’ scheme, Cong appoints ‘Mitrs’ to strengthen party in state
Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party, the two main political parties of Rajasthan, have set the ball rolling for the 2018 assembly elections.
While the ruling BJP has embarked on ‘Booth Vistarak Scheme’, the Congress has appointed ‘Mitr’ at district and assembly levels to strengthen the party organisations at grassroots level.
Gearing up for the polls, the state Congress has come out with “60-day action plan” from the party’s “war room” at 15, Rakabganj, Delhi.
The party unit has appointed 39 Mitrs as district coordinators, 200 Mitrs as assembly coordinators besides two state coordinators to execute the plan.
Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committed (PCC) president Sachin Pilot, along with state party inchage Avinash Pande, former chief minister Ashok Gehlot, ex-Union minister CP Joshi, AICC general secretary Mohan Prakash and four state co-incharges, is currently holding a three-day meet to brief the new Mitrs on the action plan.
The development comes after AICC vice president Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Banswara on July 19.
Tasks will be allotted to the Mitrs at district and assembly levels. PCC vice-president Mumtaz Massih and general secretary Giriraj Garg will coordinate and monitor their work at the state level.
“The strategy is planned by Pande and Pilot, and approved by (Rahul) Gandhi. Rajasthan will be the first state to work on such a strategy.
“The action plan would strengthen the party organisation and activate it. The appointed Mitrs are mostly senior leaders, ex-ministers or office-bearers of state,” he said.
The priority of tasks for the appointed Mitrs will be to curb factionalism through dialogues and if required with the help of local and senior leaders, suggest strategy to win seat, spread the party ideology through programmes and information collection.
The assembly coordinators will work on completing process of constituting block Congress committees and ensure its activeness, delegation of work between block office-bearers, constituting social media and media cell at block level.
The party will identify effective spokespersons and political speakers, review various department cells and listing community leaders, trade organisations, NGOs, booth level agents and booth presidents with full details.
Similar tasks have been assigned to the district coordinators at district level, but they have added responsibility of organising and monitoring programmes and workshops for party frontal wings and cells.
The district coordinators will also organise marches and discussions, host flag and ensure maximum participation of office-bearers and wings on days such as Kranti Diwas on August 9,. while Independence Day and August 20 - anniversary of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
The BJP inaugurated the Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Booth Vistarak Yojna in Rajasthan in June this year, which is aimed at establishing direct contact with the people ahead of the assembly elections.
Under the initiative, more than 50,000 BJP Vistaraks will visit each of the polling booths across the state to canvass for the party.