IN an era of competing strategies, the Congress party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are scouting for talented young men and women, as well as brand new slogan that would give the two rivals a cutting edge in the upcoming Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.

Youth, the watchword in both parties, has sent their headhunting leaders to the dust bowls of the country. The chosen ones among them, handpicked by the leaders, will head to New Delhi to get that decisive stamp of approval from the central leadership before wading into the political waters.

At the Congress party headquarters, party general secretary Rahul Gandhi has talked to enthusiastic youth in his national talent search programme. Senior BJP leader and former rural development minister M Venkaiah Naidu is engaged in similar efforts.

"We are organising meetings with the first-time voters. They are 30 per cent of the electorate," says Naidu. He has asked state party units to give preference to youngsters while finalising candidates for the assembly and Lok Sabha elections.

Congress leaders too are digging into untapped energies of the young to make the party and its mass organisations fitter, more active and more dynamic.

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Photograph: Ami Vitale/Getty Images
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