‘One family, one ticket’: Cong adopts new policy at three-day session
UDAIPUR: The Congress on Friday kicked off its three- day Chintan Shivir (brainstorming session) in Rajasthan’s Udaipur and was set to adopt a “one family, one ticket” policy as well as fix five-year terms for officebearers followed by a cooling period of three years.
People aware of the matter said the measures are aimed at striking the right balance between the young and veteran leaders and entrusting younger people with both organisational and electoral roles.
Party president Sonia Gandhi urged delegates to deliberate with an open mind and send out a clear message of strong organisation and unity. She said the Shivir is also an occasion to deliberate on the many challenges ahead of us and bring organisational changes. “It is both ‘Chintan’ about national issues and meaningful ‘aatmachintan’ (self-introspection) about our party organisation,” she said. “In one way this ( Congress transformation) is the most fundamental issue. Our revival is only possible through collective efforts. Such collective efforts will not be deferred. This Shivir is the start of the journey.”
“The circumstances before our organisation are unprecedented. Extraordinary situations demand extraordinary action. I am fully alert to this. The organisation has to bring changes within itself, not just to stay alive but to move forward. We are in dire need of improvement and changing strategy,” she added.
Gandhi urged party leaders to keep the organisation above personal ambitions, saying the party has given us a lot and it’s time to pay back.
Noting that changes in organisation are the need of the hour, she said, “We need to change the way of our working”.
Congress general secretary
Ajay Maken said the proposal on tickets will not be applicable to those, who have worked for over five years in the organisation. This means if two or three members of a family have worked in the organisation for that period, they would be eligible to contest polls. This will also ensure that outsiders joining the Congress do not get an immediate chance to context polls at the cost of those who have served the party longer.
“Any person who is holding a post for five years should have to step down, and there should be a cooling period of at least three years for that person to come back on the same post. For more than five years, a person should not be on the same post,” said Maken.
Another leader said the party