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The Congress has set up a think-tank within the party, an initiative largely driven by its president, Rahul Gandhi.
This is being followed up with the establishment of similar cells in all the States which will work closely with the party leadership on formulating policies, manifestos and will also work the social media to push its agenda.
The think-tank will be run by Rajya Sabha member MV Rajeev Gowda, who was earlier a professor of economics and social sciences at IIM, Bangalore. Gowda told BusinessLine that the think tanks would help the party become more responsive. “Rahul Gandhi has the vision to make the Congress a more modern party. We are going to transform the party into something which is very responsive, which embraces change and prepares to take India forward.”
Gowda said that when he was elected MP, Rahul had entrusted him with heading a research team of the Congress. The team’s objective was to ensure that every Congress MP was well-prepared to engage in parliamentary debates and put their views across effectively.
This team had expanding over time with members drawn from the academia and research, and experts on social media experts and other fields. After demonetisation, the team put together a booklet which was distributed to party members so that they could argue their case effectively.
The team has been associated with several initiatives, most recently in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat, where elections were held. In the hill State, the team put together data so as to counter claims made by the BJP, and in the western State, it came out with a 40-page booklet that analysed the ‘Gujarat model of governance’ and served as a ready-reference guide for its top leadership.
Citing another example, Gowda said the Congress chief had, in Bahrain, pointed out that the party’s main thrust was on the creation of jobs, education and healthcare. “These are the broad headings. We fill in with the details.”
For the forthcoming elections in Karnataka, the team plans to carry out an independent analysis in various constituencies and gather data and opinion from key stakeholders so that the leadership can take note of the multiple points of view.
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