NEW DELHI: Heir apparent Rahul Gandhi on Friday said a successful ‘direct cash transfer’ can power Congress to victory in the next two elections.

“If we get this programme right, we will win the next two general elections,” Rahul reportedly told a meeting of Congress chiefs of 51 districts where the cash transfer scheme is to be rolled out.

The remark provided the bluntest evidence that Congress is banking on the scheme to change its political fortunes that have gone into a spiral. Congress estimates cash transfer will provide succour from routine woes over accessing benefits, and neutralize the negatives of UPA over two years.

To hammer home the criticality of cash transfers in elections, Rahul said its successful implementation would “win the party not just the 2014 polls, but also the one after it”.

There is visible urgency in filling the gaps on the ground to help roll out the scheme. The PMO urged the ministries concerned to work on a “war footing” to digitize database of beneficiaries, provide them Aadhar numbers and bank accounts.

Congress made a similar call to its cadre. “Rahul asked partymen to be involved in constructive work like helping to link people to the system and securing Aadhar membership,” Union minister Jairam Ramesh and AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi told reporters.

The leadership’s stress on the political dimension of welfarist intervention was not lost on district chiefs, state presidents of Congress and Youth Congress , who later told TOI “it is our loan waiver for 2014”.

As earlier reported by TOI, party biggies chose to call it ‘direct benefits transfer’, dropping the word ‘cash’ from the name which has led to criticism that Congress was buying votes.

While banking on the magic of “cash delivery”, Congress strategy is to use the scheme to counter the bugbear of corruption a la Anna Hazare . Rahul said Anna and others only spoke about corruption but Congress was offering solutions to combat the malaise.

As if in sync with Congress hopes, leaders asked about the possibility of the opposition hijacking the scheme. When a Punjab leader said rival parties could take credit in states they rule, Rahul asked if he would let that happen in his district. Kerala Congress chief Ramesh Chennithala urged the Centre to monitor the banking correspondents, saying the strong bank unions were mostly affiliated to the Left.

There were concerns too. A district chief from Rajasthan warned that the pilot project in Kot Kasim in Alwar had drawn strong criticism from people who complained they were getting costly kerosene and the delivery of cash was not good.