In a bizarre move, Congress has announced that no official spokesperson of the Congress will be taking part in any television debate for a month. Senior Congress leader and close aide of Rahul Gandhi Randeep Sigh Surjewala had tweeted:
“.@INCIndia has decided to not send spokespersons on television debates for a month. All media channels/editors are requested to not place Congress representatives on their shows.”
.@INCIndia has decided to not send spokespersons on television debates for a month.
All media channels/editors are requested to not place Congress representatives on their shows.
— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) May 30, 2019
This move by the Congress just comes as PM Modi is set to take oath and commence his second term in the office. With senior leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Ashok Chavan, Jyotiraditya Scindia and others losing from Congress strongholds, this General Election has not been less than a disaster for the Congress. Despite getting a slight jump from 44 to 52 Parliamentary Constituencies, Congress performance can be judged by the declining win percentage on these seats.
This bizarre step only points toward the dire condition of Congress’ organizational structure, which is crumbling down in the face of an embarrassing defeat. After this electoral debacle, speculations over Rahul Gandhi continuing on the President’s post are also ripe. With a dismal performance, the ground is open for the blame game to the peak. A barrage of resignations from various State and district Congress committee presidents are already flowing in. Joining in trend is also Congress party President Rahul Gandhi himself, who faced a humiliating defeat against BJP’s Smriti Irani in Amethi. However, Congress’ Central Working Committee has out rightly rejected his resignation. Filled with Gandhi loyalists’ this move by Congress’ CWC is surely not a surprise to any. Keeping the spokespersons away from the public might be helpful as there is still no clarity on sensitive party issues. The fact AICC has officially taken spokespersons off the air for a month also indicates confusion lingering for a longer period.
Congress which claimed to be the flag bearer of freedom of expression has now by this regressive step essentially put the same agenda on the back seat. The failure of Congress’ spokespersons to defend non-sensical moves of some senior Congress ideologues like Mani Shankar Aiyar and Sam Pitroda may have also contributed to this step.
After the defeat, Congress leader from Bhind region in Madhya Pradesh had also in a letter to Rahul Gandhi pitched for similar move regarding Congress party Spokespersons. Devashish Jarariya, Congress candidate from the region had written in the letter “After attending at least 600 TV debates I have found that 95% of the debates are only pushing BJP’s propaganda. Today’s corporate media has no space for opposition, in this scenario Congress and other Opposition parties should think seriously on sending their representatives on these debates”
मेरा आधिकारिक पत्र कांग्रेस प्रवक्ताओं को टीवी डिबेट्स केलिए प्रतिबंधित करने एवं प्रवक्ता पद के दायित्व को बदलने बाबत
श्री @RahulGandhi जी से अनुरोध है इसपर जरूर निर्णय ले।@OfficeOfKNath @rssurjewala @BabariaDeepak @Shobha_Oza @digvijaya_28@JM_Scindia pic.twitter.com/hQFrirJVEA— Devashish Jarariya (@jarariya91) May 25, 2019
Congress campaign for the 2019 general elections was essentially a number of slip-ups which further harmed Congress’ prospects, the dearth of efficient spokespersons also added to the downfall. This move by Congress party is sure to meet the wrath of crores of viewers who follow national politics media channels and further degrade the credibility of the grand old party.
