50 mid-career professional to be chosen every year for full time politics
New Delhi : The Congress party has formally opened its doors for professionals across the country to join the party under the fellowship programme named after former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.
Announcing the programme , senior Congress leaders Pawan Khera, Praveen Chakravarty and K Raju disclosed that every year 50 professionals will be chosen as ‘Dr Manamohan Singh fellows’, who will be nurtured and groomed as full time politicians.
Welcoming the initiative, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, urged the professionals to apply now. Writing on ‘X’, he observed, “It’s time India’s brightest minds brought their power to politics.
The Dr. Manmohan Singh Fellows program is our call to mid-career professionals—step into public life, lead with integrity, and help build a progressive and inclusive India”.
Khera pointed out, the Congress party has an unmatched history of promoting and encouraging professionals right from the days of Pandit Moti Lal Nehru to Dr Manmohan Singh.
He said the Congress party will act as an “incubator” for these mid-career professionals to graduate as full time political leaders. They will be mentored and groomed by the party leaders who have come from professional backgrounds.
Giving details of the fellowship, Praveen Chakravarty disclosed that India was faced with an unprecedented challenge as a new World Economic Order was being unleashed by the United States under President Donald Trump.
He said, while the country missed a leader like Dr Manmohan Singh today, who had navigated the economy through many storms so successfully, it was time to follow his advice. He disclosed that during one of his meetings with the former PM when the Russia-Ukraine War broke out, he had sought his opinion as to what the country should do. To that, he quoted Dr Singh saying that he should take the opinion of younger professionals.
Chakravarty said under the initiative, launched with due consent of Dr Manmohan Singh’s family, the Congress will identify and choose 50 mid-career professionals across the country every year.
He said, those who are passionate about building a modern, progressive and prosperous India will be chosen by an eminent panel through an intense selection process.
They will be mentored by senior leaders of the Congress who have themselves come from different professions, he said, adding, Dr Manmohan Singh Fellows Program is a commitment to enter politics with a firm belief in progressive and secular politics.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr K Raju said, “Dr Manmohan Singh Fellows” programme was a long felt need many in Congress thought about. He said, when he worked in the National Advisory Council under Ms Sonia Gandhi he came across many professionals who wanted to join politics.
He observed, it was felt that there should be some structural mechanism that should facilitate the entry of such professionals into politics and today that need has been fulfilled by ‘Dr Manmohan Singh Fellows” programme.
