K J Rao model to power Rahul’s ‘Mission Bihar’

IYC,which involved Foundation for Advanced Management of Elections (FAME),headed by former chief election commissioners,J M Lyngdoh and T S Krishnamurthy,to conduct elections in Punjab in 2008,has adopted the KJ Rao model to attract more youth to its fold in Bihar and rationalise caste representation in the Youth Congress.

The model envisages presidents for each Assembly and Parliament segment,one mandatory general secretary from reserved category on every Assembly seat and the functionaries’ tenure being fixed at two years.

Caste imbalance in the Congress set-up in Bihar has always been the talking point in view of the upper caste dominance in its structure from state to block levels.

IYC has now done away with choosing leaders from block and district level presidents. “Now,we will first choose panchayat

representatives. Ten ward (panchayat) members,five of them from reserved categories,will be eligible to contest as president,vice-president and general secretaries (two) for each Assembly seat. One general secretary will have to be from the reserved category,” said a senior Congress leader,adding that the Rao model laid emphasis on “giving fair representation to every class rather than nominating leaders”.

A similar pattern will be followed for Parliamentary seats. Ward members (10 each) from Assembly segments will elect functionaries for Parliamentary seat position of the Youth Congress. At the top of youth Congress structure,there will be state president elected by ward/ panchayat members (243X10) in Bihar. The maximum age for Youth Congress member is kept at 35 years.

IYC president Ashok Tanwar will arrive here for a one-day training session on 7 January before the kickstarting of the one-month membership drive for Bihar Youth Congress gets underway on 12 January while AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi will visit Bihar towards January-end.