JOIN USCongress to undertake massive membership drive from November 1: Randeep Surjewala
The Congress membership drive starting from November 1 will have a special emphasis on first-time voters and women besides using it as a platform to campaign against the Narendra Modi government's anti-people policies.
The decision was taken at a meeting called by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and attended by party General Secretaries, in-charges and state presidents here on Tuesday.
In the meeting, Sonia told the leaders that they will have to ensure proper printing and distribution of forms in every ward and village across the country. She said that the state leadership should identify and assign Congress leaders and office bearers the task of going house-to-house and enrol members in a transparent fashion.
"You must ensure the clear delineation of the responsibilities of these individuals at the state, district, block, ward and village level. This is a vital responsibility that you are entrusted with," she said.
Briefing about the decisions of the meeting, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that the party is making arrangements for applying for membership physically as well as through digital means.
The meeting decided that the party would reach out to "every nook and corner, every ward and village across the country and offer Indians in the remotest parts, a platform for their aspirations" and there would be special emphasis on enrolling first-time voters as party members, he said.
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Congress leaders and workers will especially visit the localities and homes of people belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes, hold interactions with them by laying special focus on the steps initiated by the Party for their welfare and inclusion.
"It was also resolved to take on the enrolment of women in mission mode from all sections of society. The core idea is not just a nationwide outreach to specific sections of youth, women and the marginalised but also to bring out the fact that the Congress is the only vehicle to fight the designed attack on the lives and livelihoods of these sections by the policies of the Modi government," he said.
The meeting was also briefed about the training programme approved by the Congress Working Committee earlier this month with Sonia herself telling the meeting that the fight to defend Indian democracy, Constitution and the Congress' ideology begins with being fully prepared to identify and counter false propaganda.
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Recognising the "diabolical and systematic" attack unleashed by the BJP-RSS not only on the Congress ideology but on the core fundamentals of justice, equality and affirmative action enshrined in the Constitution, Surjewala said the meeting expressed concern over the "systematic subjugation of democracy by unconstitutional means and virtually holding every institution captive to the whims and caprices of the ruling elite".
"The meeting noted that every party functionary-from ordinary congress workers to the senior-most Congress leader- would need to take on this fight based on the core of the Congress ideology and the founding principles of India. To do this meaningfully, it was resolved to initiate a comprehensive training programme at all levels of the party," he said, adding the meeting also discussed the contours of the agitation programme against price rise next month.
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