The Hindu : New Delhi News : ‘Secret ballot’ to select DYC chief

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Thursday, Apr 24, 2008
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New Delhi

‘Secret ballot’ to select DYC chief

Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

On the directions of Rahul Gandhi

“Being done in a completely democratic manner”
“Happy at the initiative to revamp the organisation”

NEW DELHI: Over a hundred activists of the Delhi Youth Congress have submitted the names of five candidates each they think are best suited for the post of president of the unit to the secretary in charge of the Talent Search Committee that had been set up for the purpose on the directions of Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi.

The activists, who were called over to the 24 Akbar Road headquarters of the Congress this past weekend, were all given a slip of paper and asked to write the names of the persons of their choice. “The best part about the exercise was that it was done in a completely democratic manner and secrecy was maintained as the slips did not carry the name of the person who was writing them,” said a party activist.

This move to go in for a “secret ballot” of sorts came after several party activists complained that they had not been provided with the questionnaires that had been prepared to take their views on the Youth Congress leadership in Delhi. “Earlier even when the questionnaires were provided to us, the process was not fair as the activists were required to put their names on the paper and then were asked to give their views before some leaders of the Indian Youth Congress. Obviously this had restricted fairness in the exercise,” said one activist.

Another activist complained that some of the party workers who had given their views of the candidates were facing problems within the organisation as their leaders know who they rooted for. “Nevertheless, we are hopeful that now the leadership issue would be settled in the most democratic manner.”

The Youth Congress activists are glad that Mr. Gandhi has been taking personal interest in the revamping of the organisation. To begin with, he had started the process of interviewing prospective youth leaders a couple of months ago, but when only handpicked activists were initially sent across to him, he realised that they did not represent the true leadership of youth party workers in Delhi. Thereafter, the Talent Search Committee comprising senior Congress leaders was constituted to identify the best talent for the Youth Congress.

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