Alarmed over losing ground to the superior lung power of the foot soldiers of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the State Congress is all set to form a special team which is expected to effectively out-shout the saffron party’s shouting brigade. However, the State Congress brass said that imparting training to the party workers is a normal practice.
It is learnt that the members of the ‘shouting brigade’ would be chiefly drawn from the party’s students’ wing, National Students Union of India (NSUI) and Youth Congress. Party insiders said that a proposal to select a band of youths gifted with huge lung power has been accepted by the State party chief. They are expected to yell slogans at the top of their voice during rallies and meetings, something which would make the people think that the opposition party is capable of matching and even outdoing their saffron counterparts in power of the lungs. “ Besides, it would make clear that the youth are emotionally charged with the ideology the party professes which is bound to impress the people,” an insider said.
It is learnt that initially 100 youth would be selected for the brigade and they would be trained on the party ideology. The idea to select such a team equipped with adequate lung power to outsmart the saffron youngsters was mooted by the State party vice-president Surya Kant Dhasmana.
The State Congress chief Pritam Singh said that it is wrong to dub the unit of the party workers which would be formed as ‘shouting brigade’. He, however, added that slogan shouting is an important part of a party’s functioning. “Involving the youth in the party and giving them grounding in the party’s ideology is a continuous process,” he said. He, however, added that there is a no dearth of dedicated workers in the Congress.
Dhasmana said that the party would impart training to a group of youngsters on the party’s ideology and the party’s stands on important issues. “The team to be formed would take the party’s viewpoint vigorously to the people,” he added.
The Congress plan to select a band of fresh youth to shout slogans has made BJP to tear into the opposition party. The State BJP spokesperson Virendra Bisht said that it reveals that Congress is facing shortage of workers. “It is ludicrous that Congress is groping for slogan shouters,” he quipped.