All India Congress Committee (AICC) has, probably for the first time, put focus on Jharkhand in order to revive the party organisation at grass roots ahead of next polls.
The party has set tasks out in open which include organisational elections beginning from blocks besides, appointing string of ‘returning officers’ deputed by the national headquarter to oversee the preparations and its fairness.
Dr Naresh Kumar and Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary Bakka Judson are already touring the State and holding meetings with party workers in the run up to the elections slated to be held from August 21 to September 4.
“Naresh Kumar who has been designated as Additional Pradesh Returning Officer (APRO) will be holding meetings at Deoghar. He has been given the responsibility to verify voters’ list, build consensus among the voters and scrutiny the names into the list by acting on the objections. Bakka Judson would hold similar meetings at Ramgarh, Hazaribagh, Giridih in next couple of days,” said JPCC general secretary Alok Kumar Dubey on Wednesday.
Besides the APROs, the AICC has dispatched senior party leader Charan Das Mahant as Pradesh Returning Officer for the party’s upcoming organisational elections in Jharkhand. Mahant would remain in the State for three days between June 12 and 14.
“Charan Das Mahant would provide final touches to the tasks before the elections begin. On June 12, meetings of party workers coming from Palamu, latehar, Garhwa, lohardaga, Gumla and Simdega would take place. On the next day, workers’ list and voters’ list of Bokaro, Dhanbad, Hazaribagh, Koderma and Chaibasa would be scrutinised whereas on the last day on June 14 Ranchi and Khunti areas would be covered,” Dubey said.
Block level elections would be followed by election of the office-bearers of the District Congress Committees from September 4 to September 15 and of the Pradesh Congress Committees and of AICC members by the PCC general body from September 15 to October 15, accomplishing the task as per the deadline of December 31 this year set by the Election Commission.
This apart, the party is also going aggressively to sandpaper its image and presence in the State before the general elections. “There are lots of issues accumulated because of failures of the BJP rules, both at the Centre and here in the State. Host of AICC leaders’ tours are planned in Jharkhand in order to expose the Government at the helm. We are also organising ‘dhikkar sabhas’ across the State under which on June 8 it would be held at Saraikela and Kolhan region. BDOs would be given memorandum, which are to be handed over to the Governor. It would be a kind of white paper on the deeds of the State Government,” said PCC president Sukhdeo Bhagat.