Jaipur: Ahead of urban local body and panchayat elections, Congress has begun a statewide organisational drive to build its grassroots network.District units have been told to set up executive committees in every gram panchayat and urban ward, marking the first time the party is forming such bodies at the gram panchayat level.The drive aims to expand the party’s presence at the grassroots by appointing over 5.35 lakh office-bearers across the state by April 19. Of these, more than 3.23 lakh office-bearers will be appointed in rural areas, while over 2.11 lakh will be appointed in urban wards.Rajasthan currently has 14,726 gram panchayats following a recent reorganisation that added 3,416 new units to the earlier 11,310. Congress plans to form 21-member executive committees in each gram panchayat, including a president, resulting in the appointment of 3,23,972 office-bearers.In urban areas, where there are 10,245 wards, the party will also set up 21-member ward executive committees, including ward presidents, accounting for 2,11,590 office-bearers.The party has issued a circular to all district presidents, assigning them the target of completing these appointments within a month.State Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra said the initiative marks the first time the party is forming structured committees at the gram panchayat level. “We will complete this in a month,” he said, underscoring the urgency of the exercise.
