Amarinder to interact with ‘College Captains’ today

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 28

Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh will return to the campaign trail tomorrow with a major youth outreach planned by his poll strategist, Prashant Kishor.

The event, to be held at Government Medical College, Sector 32, Chandigarh, will see Amarinder engaging 1,200 students which Kishor’s team has recruited for future Congress campaigns in the state.

Called “College Captains”, these youngsters are expected to play the role of a “youth army” for Amarinder. Also at the event, Kishor’s team at the Indian Political Action Committee (IPAC) will train the students on how to become the party’s political messengers in their respective districts.

The idea behind the exercise is to pitch the former CM as the leader of the youth – a sizeable chunk in the Punjab elections. The state will have 90 lakh new voters this time, with both the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) out to woo them.

Asked about these 1,200 students, a source close to Kishor said, “They volunteered to work with Amarinder after he concluded his ‘Coffee with Captain’ sessions, which were primarily held to target youngsters. Soon, we will hold 80 more sessions of ‘Coffee with Captain’ with the aim of targeting specific groups, including women, farmers, traders and NGOs.”

Kishor will also be present at the event tomorrow. This will be Capt’s first campaign programme since his return from the US, where he focused on the NRIs, known to power the AAP campaign.