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The first-ever election to the posts of president and other office-bearers of the Maharashtra Youth Congress got underway on Saturday, amidst hectic campaigning being undertaken by at least half a dozen sons and close relatives of influential Congress politicians among the 56,000-odd voters in the State.
The two-day election process, initiated by AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi himself, has aroused unprecedented interest among the Youth Congress functionaries across the State.
“In the past, we never had elections to the posts of State Youth Congress president and other office-bearers. Owing to the initiative taken by Rahulji, we are holding the Maharashtra Youth Congress elections for the first time in the history of the State party set-up,” State Congress general Secretary Sanjay Dutt said.
There are at least six front-runners for the State Youth Congress president’s post. They include Vishvajeet Kadam (son of Forest Minister Patangrao Kadam), Satyajit Tambe (nephew of Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat), Kunal
Raut (son of Employment Guarantee Scheme Minister Nitin Raut) and Rahul Pugalia (son of former Congress MP Naresh Pugalia).
There are in all 39 candidates for 10 posts, including that of the president. Of the 10 posts, five have been kept aside for reserved categories, including women and SCs/STs. The 10 office-bearers will be chosen on the basis of the votes polled by them.
The candidate, who polls the highest number of votes, will be declared as the State Youth Congress, while candidate emerging second in terms of total number of votes secured will be declared as the vice president. The remaining eight, including persons from the reserved categories, will be made general secretaries.
According to party sources, it is a neck-and-neck contest between Vishwajeet and Satyajit for the State Youth Congress president’s post.
Such has been the competition among the party’s young Congress functionaries for bagging the Youth Congress chief’s post that Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh’s MLA-son Amit, Union Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde’s MLA-daughter Praniti and President Pratibha Patil’s MLA-son Rajendra Shekhawat had evinced keen interest in contesting the polls.
However, Amit (just over 35 years of age) and Rajendra (45) backed out of the race as they were above the stipulated age of 35 years for the post, while the lack of experience in party matters prompted Praniti to decide at the last moment against contesting the polls.
The votes, polled in the weekend election, would be counted on Monday. The results are expected on that day itself.
The two-day election process, initiated by AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi himself, has aroused unprecedented interest among the Youth Congress functionaries across the State.
“In the past, we never had elections to the posts of State Youth Congress president and other office-bearers. Owing to the initiative taken by Rahulji, we are holding the Maharashtra Youth Congress elections for the first time in the history of the State party set-up,” State Congress general Secretary Sanjay Dutt said.
There are at least six front-runners for the State Youth Congress president’s post. They include Vishvajeet Kadam (son of Forest Minister Patangrao Kadam), Satyajit Tambe (nephew of Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat), Kunal
Raut (son of Employment Guarantee Scheme Minister Nitin Raut) and Rahul Pugalia (son of former Congress MP Naresh Pugalia).
There are in all 39 candidates for 10 posts, including that of the president. Of the 10 posts, five have been kept aside for reserved categories, including women and SCs/STs. The 10 office-bearers will be chosen on the basis of the votes polled by them.
The candidate, who polls the highest number of votes, will be declared as the State Youth Congress, while candidate emerging second in terms of total number of votes secured will be declared as the vice president. The remaining eight, including persons from the reserved categories, will be made general secretaries.
According to party sources, it is a neck-and-neck contest between Vishwajeet and Satyajit for the State Youth Congress president’s post.
Such has been the competition among the party’s young Congress functionaries for bagging the Youth Congress chief’s post that Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh’s MLA-son Amit, Union Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde’s MLA-daughter Praniti and President Pratibha Patil’s MLA-son Rajendra Shekhawat had evinced keen interest in contesting the polls.
However, Amit (just over 35 years of age) and Rajendra (45) backed out of the race as they were above the stipulated age of 35 years for the post, while the lack of experience in party matters prompted Praniti to decide at the last moment against contesting the polls.
The votes, polled in the weekend election, would be counted on Monday. The results are expected on that day itself.
