Bengaluru: Revamping of state and district committees, holding people's contact programmes in revenue headquarters and staging rallies against the policies and programmes of the BJP-led NDA government top the agenda of the ruling Congress Party in the run-up to the 2018 Assembly polls.
The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee(KPCC) is waiting for the state government to present the State Budget for the year 2017-18 so as to prepare the groundwork for the coming Assembly polls. The first and foremost priority of the party is to reconstitute all district and the state committee to infuse young blood and induct young and energetic workers. All lethargic office-bearers are likely to be kicked out of the committees to give way for active workers.
Disclosing the party strategy for the 2018 Assembly elections, KPCC Working President Dinesh Gundu Rao said it had been decided to hold 'Jana-Mana' programme in revenue headquarters to have an interaction with beneficiaries of various welfare schemes that had been rolled out in the last four years. Already, such a programme has been held in Bengaluru and Mysuru. Participation of district-in-charge ministers has been made mandatory in people's contact programmes as it would help the party to understand the pulse of the electorate.
Public suggestions would be sought and brought to the notice of the government which has already fulfilled over 100 promises made during the 2013 Assembly polls while the rest would be included in the budget.
Besides, plans are afoot to hold 'Jana-mana' programmes in Assembly constituencies to understand what the people expect from the government. "After the budget, party leaders will sit and work out the poll strategy. The next six to eight months are crucial for the party to roll out its plan of action for the Assembly polls to be held in March-April next year".
Mr Gundu Rao said more rallies would be held to highlight the failures of the Narendra Modi government. Already, two huge rallies have been held in Bengaluru city which saw the participation of state and national leaders, against demonetisation. The Modi government has erred on many counts and such issues would be highlighted on a big scale by staging demonstrations and rallies in all district headquarters.
Once the budget presentation was over, party workers would be asked to visit every house to explain the achievements of the Siddaramaiah government. Seeing the infighting in BJP, the ruling party has an upper hand and the possibility of the Congress coming back to power cannot be ruled out, he added.
Mr Dinesh said the process of selection of candidates would begin after March-April and tickets would be given to winnable candidates. Unlike other parties, the Congress has not set any goal but is confident of getting the required seats to form the government on its own. It was too premature to say whether all sitting legislators would be given tickets as this would be decided on performance of each MLA and after consulting local party workers, he added.
Apart from social media, Mr Dinesh stressed on outdoor publicity like putting ad hoardings on KSRTC and BMTC buses on various welfare schemes such as 'Anna bhagya', 'Ksheera bhagya', 'Shaadi bhagya' in the coming months. The publicity wing of the party would become more active in social media after two to three months listing out achievements of the Congress government. Whatever programmes launched by the incumbent government would be taken to the grassroot level to woo the electorate he noted.
