Will build cadre-based party, says D K Shivakumar
Bengaluru: KPCC president-designate DK Shivakumar on Monday announced that the party will move towards becoming cadre-based, from being mass-based.
Shivakumar held talks with the three KPCC working presidents Eshwar Khandre, Saleem Ahmed and Satish Jarkiholi and discussed programmes for the party’s future.
“The party shouldn’t be mass-based. We want to build a cadre-based party,” Shivakumar told reporters. “All four of us have discussed and we’ve decided to chalk out programmes for this. It’s our top priority,” he said.
This will be the second formal attempt of the Congress to become a cadre-based party. In the run-up to the 2018 Assembly polls, AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka K C Venugopal directly monitored the formation of booth-level committees. Of the 56,696 booths, the party was able to cover at least four-fifths of them. However, it did not yield expected results in the elections.
“We need to reenergize the party’s workers. Their aspiration must be the same as the country’s,” Shivakumar said. “For us, quality is important. Quantity keeps changing. Our priority is discipline,” he added.
Shivakumar, who was announced as the new KPCC president last week, has been reaching out to party leaders in an effort to bring them all on board. He is expected to head to Delhi later this month to meet the party’s top brass. “I’m in no hurry to go to Delhi. The legislature session here is underway and so is the Parliament session. Some 10-15 leaders will go and meet the top brass together,” he said.
Hailing the Gandhi family, Shivakumar attacked the BJP. “The BJP has been given a big responsibility in the country, but it’s not enough for them and they’re going after the states. Our party has a responsibility. Only the Congress can keep the country united and only the Gandhi family can keep the party united,” he said, recalling the family’s sacrifices for the sake of the country.
Shivakumar also vowed to take “all classes and communities of society” together.