Ravi hears out partymen's woes

BANGALORE: Even as the milling crowd of party workers outside the Congress Bhavan on Queens Road created a traffic jam the whole of Tuesday, inside it was meetings galore for AICC general secretary Karnataka in-charge Vayalar Ravi on the second day of his stay.
Workers, who had gathered at the office from early morning in anticipation of a meeting, were, however, not disappointed.Ravi surprised them by arriving before the scheduled time of 10.30 am and visited the computer section which had been inaugurated by party president Sonia Gandhi during the AICC session in April 2001.
``Since many party workers were already present, he asked us to meet him in person. Meetings lasted for a few minutes where we got an opportunity to discuss with him various issues concerning the party,''''a worker said.
One or two memoranda opposed the entry of expelled BJP MLAs into the Congress. ``We want to highlight that we oppose the entry of expelled legislator N. Bharathi Shankar. He or his colleagues will not be loyal to the party as they only party hop. We hope our views would be heard,'''' T.Narasipur Block Congress President S.Mahadevappa said.
A couple of former Congress MLAs from Mysore district had prepared a memorandum highlighting the alleged misdeeds of senior leader Chandraprabha Urs.
After the birth anniversary celebrations of party leaders Rajiv Gandhi and D. Devaraj Urs, he was closeted in a KPCC office bearers meeting for nearly an hour. Apparently, many office bearers expressed their strong reservation against new entrants to Congress getting plum ministries. Besides, they also pointed out that ministers hardly coordinated with district units of the party.
``They hardly visit the party office and participate in party work. How can the party grow if ministers do not show interest in strengthening the party?,'''' a few office bearers reportedly told the meeting. However, ministers guilty of neglecting party work were not named.