Rahul’s home experiment: Borrow from Maya to beat Maya

To this end,he has taken a few ideas from the BSP’s organisational book to establish his party’s contact at the grassroots level and carry committed voters to polling booths at the time of election. Apparently inspired by the phenomenal BSP success in the last UP Assembly election,Rahul has held a series of meetings with BSP defectors who have joined the Congress,according to party sources.

Many former BSP leaders,including those from Amethi and Barabanki,were called to Delhi and asked to prepare a report on the BSP’s organisational structure,said sources who were part of the deliberations at that time. Congress president Sonia Gandhi also met these former BSP leaders.

In the months that followed,the Congress top brass developed a blueprint by replicating and remodelling many aspects of the BSP organisational structure. Party insiders said Rahul recently appointed “motivators”,each of whom has been given charge of 50 households.

Armed with identity cards,these motivators keep in touch with each household,helping them in need and informing them about the achievements of the UPA government. The most crucial part of their job,however,is to ensure that every voter from these households turn up at the polling booths to cast his or her vote.

Though the Congress already had booth committees in its organisational structure — it remains on paper at most places — the party has borrowed the idea of appointing “booth adhyakshas” from the BSP,said sources.

The BSP has different committees representing different castes,like Brahmin Bhaichara Samiti or Jaiswal Bhaichara Samiti,right from the state level to the village level. Each of these committees has a Scheduled Caste member to keep a “watch” on others,according to a Congress leader who had defected from the BSP over two years ago.

“After long discussions,Rahulji came to the conclusion that it is not caste politics but organisational strength that is mainly responsible for the electoral success of the BSP,” said a senior Congress leader in Amethi.

So while the Congress’s organisation structure in the rest of the country consists of state,district,block and booth committees,in Amethi and Rae Bareli there are many additions like nyaya panchayat adhyakshas (in charge of 5 to 7 gram sabhas),which come under block presidents,gram sabha adhyakshas,booth committees and samooha prabharis (motivators).

“These different layers of party functionaries do for us what caste-based cells and booth committees do for the BSP — that is to keep in touch with every household and ensure their presence at polling booths when the time comes,” he said.

Recently,there was a training camp for 1,200 Seva Dal members. A core group consisting of about 250 trained youngsters has also been formed; clad in grey track suits they assist the SPG in identifying unfamiliar faces in the crowd.

The BSP has divided Uttar Pradesh into different “mandals”,each consisting of about 47 Assembly constituencies. Each mandal has two to three “coordinators”. Congress sources said that the idea of a coordinator was old in the Congress as the late Rajiv Gandhi had appointed 20 “coordinators” — two for each Assembly constituency in Amethi and Rae Bareli — in 1983. Over a period of time,all except one,Kishorilal from Ludhiana,went back to their respective states.

Rahul’s idea of replicating the BSP’s organisational model has remained limited to Amethi and Rae Bareli where no senior Congress leader,except those associated with the family,is allowed to meddle or even campaign. But in a state where the Congress has struggled to stay afloat,this experiment is rekindling hopes of partymen.