Even as he commended the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government in Haryana, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday warned party leaders not to take their nominations in the next elections for granted.
They must give up their “VIP culture,” said Mr. Gandhi, who had feedback and discussion sessions with the rank and file and the party’s frontal organisations at the Indradhanush Stadium at Panchkula, a satellite town of Chandigarh.
Mr. Gandhi shared his road map in which he laid emphasis on strengthening the party at the grassroots, through appropriate participation in Panchayati Raj institutions. He said allocation of party ticket for the next elections would be based on feedback on constituencies to ascertain each MLA’s performance at the cutting edge. The “sitting MLA” criterion might no longer ensure ticket.
Meanwhile, sources said, dissidents and detractors of Mr. Hooda took up the issue of neglect of their constituencies and voters in allocation of grants and initiation of developmental projects.
BJP protest
Outside the venue, the BJP organised a protest.
Waving black flags, they shouted, “Rahul Gandhi go back” slogans. Led by the former MP, Rattan Lal Kataria, the BJP workers urged Mr. Gandhi to break his silence on the unearthing of various scandals involving Congress Ministers in the UPA government.
