BJP struck with one more dilemma of hierarchical ‘one upmaship’…..!

Jammu: For J&K unit of BJP it seems like never ending dilemma of addressing one upmanship of seniors on one hand and executing directives from central leadership which are contrary to their expectations-this time on the rider of age group. In the booth programmes going on across the UT, the main speakers mandatorily have to be of less than 40 years old.
The launch of mass contact programme was preceded by one day workshop organized by the party at its headquarters in which the ‘chosen speakers’ or the designate lot were apparently given guidelines by the senior leaders what to speak about and which areas to be delved during course of marathon meetings, thrust being on popularizing what all has been done by the Modi government at Centre.
So far so good, in terms of the content instructions. But all didn’t augur well when it came to ‘direction’ call for the speakers, nor is it working smoothly at the execution level, a party functionary confided. While ‘youth bracket’ idea may have been envisaged by New Delhi to give competitive edge to youngsters in the party and eventually prepare them as a second line set, the seniors have taken it as offense. They(ex ministers, legislators and senior functionaries) have been asked to attend such programmes in respective areas but the speakers have to be below 40 years of age.
Now, a serious implication of the age rider this time is that seniors feel sidelined and neglected as they feel their ‘rich experience’ is not being put to use anymore. They also think this directive is telling upon gravely on the purpose or fruitfulness of organizing such meetings as most of the youth are naïve , lack skill in delivering the ‘message’, the party functionary said. Some youth associated with the party are said to be quite new, having very less experience, political skills to convince people.
It goes without saying party has scores of senior leaders on board who have spent decades with organizational affairs much before it came to power or won sizable number of Assembly seats during last polls. They have undoubtedly contributed richly in its growth across UT, Jammu being party’s main domain, where the graph has increased phenomenally in last 15 years. All in all, the seniors feel sidelined at a time when the yearning of party coming to power again looms large both at Centre as well as in UT.
However, while this below 40 years age set is trying to outsmart seniors in some ways, it is the cosmetic presence of the latter seen in some programmes which is impacting it negatively.

Updated On 12/1/2023 2:37:51 AM

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