Khilesh Dewangan, a 40-year-old Congress leader in Chhattisgarh, knows the odds are stacked against him. Yet, there is confidence in his stride as he submits his credentials to be appointed as the party’s Raipur Rural district president.

He believes the Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan (SSA), which translates as organisation re-creation campaign – the Congress’s new experiment in leadership selection – gives workers like him a rare chance to break through entrenched hierarchies. “In the normal course of things, my age and relative stature would have gone against me,” Dewangan admits with a smile.

An appointment process that sits neatly between “the usual nominations” and a full-fledged organisational election, the SSA involves neutral observers from other States shortlisting six potential conten

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