Congress plans big to counter BJP at booth-level

Taking a leaf out of the BJP’s strategy book, the D K Shivakumar-led Congress is pursuing an ambitious plan to strengthen its booth-level presence by deputing senior leaders there, revamping the very manner in which booth-level committees are constituted.

Shivakumar wants all top leaders - Mallikarjun Kharge, Siddaramaiah, K H Muniyappa, Dinesh Gundurao, B K Hariprasad, himself among others - to take up the responsibility of constituting committees at the booth where they are registered as voters.

Also, the party will develop an app that will be used to constitute booth-level committees, which are crucial to ensure conversion of votes.

Shivakumar revealed this during a preparatory meeting ahead of his formal coronation as the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president on July 2.

“During the formation of the booth committees, an app and a tab will be given,” Shivakumar said. “It won’t be like you sit somewhere and make a list of people like it happened all this time. You can’t sit in some MLA’s house or my house and make the list. The committees should be finalised in the booth itself. One has to sit there, take pictures of the committee members, hit a button and it’ll reach the KPCC,” he said.

“The likes of Siddaramaiah, Kharge and I have to be booth-level representatives first,” he said.

In the run-up to the 2018 Assembly polls, the party attempted formation of booth-level committees, but it did not succeed. The BJP, on the other hand, worked aggressively in the booths. Every booth committee had a target of bringing 50% of the votes to the BJP. The booth committees were also instrumental in helping the BJP devise its poll strategy in understanding the vote share and identifying votes that can be swung in its favour.

Now, every Congress booth-level committee will have 25-26 members, with representation from the Mahila Congress, Youth Congress, National Students Union of India and one digital youth who will be tech-savvy. “We will decide on the shape and size of the committee based on the population (in that booth),” Shivakumar said.

Significantly, Shivakumar also announced that only booth representatives will be appointed as KPCC office-bearers going forward.