Youth Congress polls ‘expensive, corrupt & damaging’ — senior leaders want it junked

Seeking cancellation of polls for Punjab Youth Congress president, several senior leaders say these elections have been ‘detrimental to the party’.

Rahul Gandhi at Parliament House| Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint

New Delhi: The upcoming Youth Congress elections in Punjab has senior party leaders reiterating a decade-old demand — scrap the polls altogether as they are “expensive, corrupt and only damage the party”.

At a meeting of senior leaders held in the national capital Saturday, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sunil Jakhar raked up the issue that has divided the party since 2007 after former party chief Rahul Gandhi revived the Youth Congress.

At the meeting, Jakhar called for cancellation of the polls for Punjab Youth Congress president due later this week. Unsurprisingly, most leaders in the room backed him.

Speaking to ThePrint, a Punjab Congress leader close to Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said the latter too wasn’t in favour of the elections.

“Like everyone else, Captain saab also believes that the elections have been detrimental to the party,” said the Congress leader, who didn’t wish to be named. “These elections have only harmed the internal democracy of the party since a candidate can only contest if they have a certain amount of money… It causes dissension in the party.”

The Youth Congress elections were started by Gandhi after he took over as the general secretary in 2007 in a bid to “democratise” the party’s grassroots organisations and ensure they act as primaries for leaders who could be promoted later.

Over the years, however, these elections have proved counterproductive, amplifying rifts in the party and threatening to derail its prospects.

‘Elections may be cancelled’

A Congress functionary privy to the developments said Amarinder Singh’s opposition to the upcoming elections have been conveyed to the party high command, adding that action may be taken to cancel the polls.

Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi had sanctioned the elections earlier this month despite opposition from many senior leaders. The polls are tentatively scheduled to be held between 24 and 27 November, with results to be announced a day later.

“There is an entire section of the party that is completely opposed to Youth Congress elections,” said a second Congress leader who attended the meeting Saturday. “They are nothing short of expensive, corrupt and have damaged the party.”

“We’ve been asking the party to cancel it for nearly 10 years now,” said the Punjab leader mentioned above. “It will only be a good thing if they do.”

Youth Congress president B.V. Srinivas, however, told ThePrint that he hadn’t heard of any such development and would verify with the election team and then respond.

Internal conflicts

The Youth Congress has seen several conflicts within its ranks in the decade since its revival.

In 2015, the Himachal Pradesh Youth Congress was led by Vikramaditya Singh, son of then chief minister Virbhadra Singh. Its secretary was R.S. Bali, son of then state minister G.S. Bali. The rivalry between the two young leaders reached the main state unit, with both sides nearly clashing at a rally.

As recently as last month, 30 Youth Congress leaders quit the unit in Kerala over its failure to revamp the state committee. The seven-year-long delay was caused over fears within the party that elections for the Kerala Youth Congress president would divide the unit.

The rift now threatens to derail the Congress prospects in the local body elections due in Kerala next year.

Objectives not met

Over the years, Youth Congress leaders who were promoted by Rahul Gandhi have also failed to make a mark.

Former Haryana Congress chief Ashok Tanwar was among those fast-tracked from the Youth Congress. His tenure in the state was marked by factionalism that is being blamed for the party’s successive assembly election losses.

The Youth Congress polls have also not achieved what they were meant to — democratise the party.

Political dynasties continue to hold prime posts in the Youth Congress. In Maharashtra, for instance, Satyajeet Tambe was elected the state president in 2018. Tambe is the son of legislator Sudhir Tambe and nephew of former state revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat.

This was the most recent election to be held for Youth Congress.

“Until UPA I, Rahul was extra invested in the Youth Congress,” a second Congress functionary told ThePrint. “The party tried to involve even former chief election commissioner James Michael Lyngdoh and a former adviser to the Election Commission, K.J. Rao, to conduct internal elections in the Congress.”

“After the Punjab elections in 2012, his (Rahul’s) interest began to fade,” the functionary added.

Around that time, Gandhi had addressed a Youth Congress convention to galvanise party workers for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Ever since, he has rarely been active within the ranks.