Over 600 young leaders selected by Rahul Gandhi for party work but not given any responsibilities yet: Report

Rahul Gandhi has picked 600 young leaders in a corporate-style recruitment process.

Delhi: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has picked about 600 young leaders in a corporate-style recruitment process but they are still waiting in the wings as far as getting responsibilities in the party is concerned, as per a media report.

As per a report in Mail Today, the so-called 'Team Rahul' have no clue as to when they will get their jobs.

It is said that over the past year, the Congress​ personally interviewed these leaders.

The website quoted sources as saying that they would be given key roles whenever Rahul gives his nod to be elevated as Congress president. 

"I spoke about Delhi politics during the interaction. I was confident as I had met Rahulji several times before that," one of the candidates and a former NSUI national president, Rohit Chaudhary, told Mail Today.

"I worked during the recent Delhi municipal bypolls in Kamboj Nagar," Rohit was further quoted as saying.

The plan to keep a pool of young leaders ready was supposedly initiated when it was realised by Rahul's advisers that a section of veteran leaders were not enthused about the proposed change of guard. 

Also, after the debacle in 2014 Lok Sabha polls, some of the seniors got nervous that they may have no future if Rahul became Congress chief.

Reportedly, in order to stop bringing divisions in the grand old party to the fore, a truce was arrived at.

Senior Congress leaders were said to have been assured that Rahul's new team would be a "mix of youth and experience".

However, Rahul's blue print regarding organisational revamp in the party was never implemented.

Meanwhile, it was suggested that Sonia Gandhi should continue as Congress chief and Rahul as the VP till the time was right for him to take over the reins of the party.

However, after the loss in Assam and Kerela in the recent Assembly elections and the failure to come to power in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu has once again ignited the debate about the measures that the Congress should take in the days to come to make itself more relevant in electoral politics. 

A senior leader, on condition of anonymity, was quoted as saying by the website, "That momentum seems to have been lost. Party functionaries who are in their thirties are expressing concern over their future. Many of them might be exploring other options."

On the other hand, senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh had tweeted the following after Assembly election results were declared in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry on May 19:

Today's results disappointing but not unexpected. We have done enough Introspection shouldn't we go for a Major Surgery ? — digvijaya singh (@digvijaya_28) May 19, 2016