Form booth-level committees to steer election campaigns: Kharge

New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday told newly-appointed General Secretaries and state in-charges to start preparing for Lok Sabha elections by setting the stage for candidate selection and energising booth level committees.

Kharge’s missive to the office bearers came at a meeting he along with former president Rahul Gandhi had with them in Nagpur after the Foundation Day rally. The meeting reviewed the political situation in states, sources said.

The Congress president told the leaders that the Screening Committee for recommending candidates for the Lok Sabha elections will be set up within a week.

Another direction to the leaders at the meeting, which was also attended by Congress General Secretaries KC Venugopal (Organisation) and Jairam Ramesh (Communications) and Treasurer Ajay Maken, was about booth level committees.

Kharge asked the state in-charges to immediately initiate the process of forming booth level committees to steer election campaigns. The leaders were also asked to provide their initial assessments about states to which they are assigned.

The Congress president effected a reshuffle last Saturday bringing in four new General Secretaries and assigning new states to in-charges. After the reshuffle, Kharge and Rahul had met leaders and in-charges, including Manickam Tagore and Rajeev Shukla, from states like Andhra Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

Sources said a meeting of office-bearers will be called on January 4 to finalise preparations for Rahul’s Bharat Nyay Yatra. The schedule and other details of the yatra will be shared during the meeting.

In Nagpur, the National Alliance Committee also held meetings. West Bengal leaders Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Deepa Dasmunsi met panel members Mukul Wasnik, Ashok Gehlot and Salman Khurshid among others. Leaders from Maharashtra also met the panel.

The committee will be holding extensive meetings on Friday with other state leaders to assess alliance potential in respective states.