Prerak dropped by Sonia Gandhi after objection from leaders

Congress President Sonia Gandhi. File

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday vetoed a proposal to appoint ‘ preraks’ (motivators) who would ‘inspire and inform’ party workers on Congress ideology as many leaders pointed out it sounded close to ‘ pracharak’ of the Rashtriya Swayamasevak Sangh (RSS).

The proposal was part of an elaborate plan — prepared by Congress’ training department — to train workers on its ideology, programmes and policies.

When it was mooted at a meeting of Congress general secretaries and State Congress chief, senior leader Mukul Wasnik was the among first to object on the word ‘

prerak’ .

Ms. Gandhi agreed to retain the training programme but dropped the word. The Congress would now train about 200 functionaries and would designate them as ‘training coordinators’.