In line with the attempts of the Kerala Congress (KC) to revitalise the party after its below-par performance in last year's Assembly elections, feeder organisations of the regional outfit have kick-started works to bridge its disconnect with the youth, including professionals and non-resident Indians.
A day-long camp organised by the Kerala Youth Front (KYF), the youth wing of the P.J. Joseph-led party, here on Tuesday in connection with its 52nd birth anniversary celebrations, saw it formulating an action plan to reinvigorate its youth-oriented activities. These include constitution of a volunteer army for its environmental as well as farming schemes, training programmes and medical camps for the youth, and conduct of protests, among other things.
Plans are also afoot to form a dedicated social media wing for the outfit so as to enhance its engagement with the educated youth who have been playing crucial roles in setting the agenda of online political discourses. The Kerala IT and Professional Congress, a recently constituted platform led by Apu John Joseph, elder son of the veteran KC leader, has already developed a mobile app to network with the party activists.
Commenting on the move, Mr. Joseph said a good number of youngsters from families that had long maintained a close connection with the party were increasingly settling abroad while several of the remaining youth might have found party politics a turn-off. “It’s an attempt to open up the party structure to the new set of voters and expand its social base. We urgently need to move with the times too‘‘, said Mr. Joseph.
Party sources said the key focus of the party’s activities would be on the Malabar region instead of Central Travancore where it traditionally commanded a strong presence. “This is based on a conviction within the KC leadership that the party holds immense growth potential along the settler locations to the North of Thrissur,” said a KYF leader.
Meanwhile, the KYF is also planning to conduct its organisational elections on the heels of a similar exercise proposed by its parent party later this year. The reorganisation move, which is aimed at reinvigorating the outfit, seeks to trim down the various forums under the outfit.
