Image makeover: NCP to launch girls' wing

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which outperformed its ally Congress in the recently held elections to the civic and local self-governing bodies in Maharashtra, is set to launch a major political exercise to strengthen the party ahead of the 2014 assembly elections.

In its continued efforts to change NCP’s image as a Maratha-dominated party, it will soon launch the Nationalist Yuvati Congress, a dedicated wing for young girls.

Party supremo Sharad Pawar has entrusted his daughter and party MP Supriya Sule to organise girls under the Yuvati Congress umbrella. Sule would be the convenor of the new initiative, which will take off from June 10, the party’s 13th anniversary, party officials said.

Sule, who recently travelled extensively across Maharashtra to campaign against female foeticide, would start another journey to shore up support for the initiative.

“The Samajwadi Party has its own Muslim and Yadav base, while the Bahujan Samajwadi Party has a strong following of dalits. Similarly, NCP will develop a base of young girls,” Pawar told Business Standard.

He recalled that it was NCP which was in the forefront of the struggle to increase women’s reservation in local self-governing institutions from 33% I to 50 percent.