The ruling Congress in the State has decided to assess the performance of all its Ministers every quarter, starting October.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president G. Parameshwara told reporters here on Saturday that appraisal — done at the district Congress executive committee level across the State — would be assessed by a panel comprising Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka Digvijay Singh, apart from him. After this, it would be forwarded to the AICC, where the final assessment would be done.
The quarterly assessment meetings will be attended by AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who would decide on action, if any, against poor performers, Mr. Parameshwara said.
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The Chief Minister along with Mr. Parameshwara and Mr. Digvijay Singh will jointly prepare a questionnaire based on various criteria for the assessment.
Guidelines
“The broad guidelines for the assessment include implementation of programmes that we have promised to people and the Ministers’ involvement with people. We will take the help of experts to frame the questionnaire as per the directions of the AICC,” he added.
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Pointing out that the process of nominations to various boards and corporations would begin shortly, he said women would get 50 per cent representation in the nominations. Also, it was mandatory that anyone who gets nominated should be a registered member of the party, he said.
The party was determined to initiate disciplinary action against those who indulged in anti-party activities during the recent byelections to the Lok Sabha. A committee headed by J. Alexander had been set up to examine complaints and recommend action. This committee had met six times so far and issued notice to 450 members. Six people had already been expelled. All Ministers and MPs holding any position in the party would be made to resign as the party wanted to follow a “one-man, one-post” policy, he added.
Claiming that Karnataka’s model of choosing candidates for elections (by making observers gather opinion from the grassroots-level workers about the probable candidates) had worked well, Mr. Parameshwara said this model was being replicated by the AICC to shortlist candidates from all the 540 Lok Sabha constituencies.
Poll preparations
The Congress has started the process of short-listing probable candidates for all the 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in the State. “At today’s meeting, we discussed steps to gear up the party for the elections. Observers from all the constituencies have submitted recommendation, listing three to five names, in sealed covers,” he said.