Chennai: Seeking to strengthen its booth-level network ahead of the local body elections, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) on Wednesday began a 10-day training camp for its newly appointed district presidents at Mahabalipuram.TNCC president B Manickam Tagore on X described the training as a significant step towards strengthening the party in Tamil Nadu. “This is the first such intensive training programme in the history of TNCC. The participants will undergo sessions on organisational strategy, expert lectures, field study visits and practical workshops,’’ Tagore said on the sidelines of the training.Tagore skipped both the monsoon session of Parliament and the anti-NEET protests in Delhi to inaugurate the training programme in Chennai. The camp, scheduled till Aug 1, was part of the Congress’ nationwide ‘Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan’ initiative to equip the organisation for future elections.“The objective is to equip district presidents with the skills required to strengthen the party’s booth-level structure, directly address people’s issues and take the Congress’ ideology and message to every household,’’ Tagore said.Senior Congress leaders such as K C Venugopal, P Chidambaram, K S Alagiri, S Thirunavukkarasar, E M Sudarsana Natchiappan, Peter Alphonse and Sasikanth Senthil, besides ministers S Rajesh Kumar and P Viswanathan, are scheduled to address the participants.Tagore said the training programme is part of fulfilling the goals of Congress leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, to empower grassroots cadres and to make him prime minister in the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. “It is also intended to prepare the party for the upcoming local body elections and lay a strong foundation for the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee’s Mission 2029 — its goal of helping Rahul Gandhi become the prime minister of India,” Manickam Tagore said.Sources in TNCC said Rahul Gandhi is set to visit Tamil Nadu either during the ongoing training programme or for its valedictory function on Aug 1.
