It takes great communication skills to hold one’s own in debates, panel discussions on television, and interactions with people. More so as elections near.
With the aim of developing an aggressive media strategy to counter the BJP in the run-up to the Legislative Assembly elections, a two-member team of the AICC media wing last week interviewed nearly 300 candidates from different regions, professions, communities, for the job of party spokespersons. The results are awaited.
Priyanka Chaturvedi, the convener of AICC communication department, and Radhika Khera, coordinator, interviewed candidates belonging to various wings of the party and professions, including those affiliated to NSUI, Kisan, minority, and women cells.
Factors such as a candidate’s commitment to the party’s ideology, in-depth knowledge on a wide variety of issues, proficiency in languages, particularly in English, past experience, and aggressive outlook were taken into consideration, sources in the party said. “The idea is to bring on board like-minded professionals and experts, and people who can even be the party’s face on TV,” a senior party leader said. The party is expected to appoint three to five candidates as AICC spokespersons, 15 State-level, and three district-level spokespersons.
Nagaraj Yadav, who attended the interview for the job, told The Hindu that Ms. Chaturvedi interviewed him for about 30 minutes and asked several questions related to State and national politics. Advocate Veena Gowda, daughter of former Congress Minister D.B. Chandre Gowda, also participated in the interview.
Those selected for spokespersons’ job will be appointed from among the short-listed candidates during Randeep Singh Surjewala’s, head, Communication Department, AICC, visit to Bengaluru. Ms. Chaturvedi said the Congress, headed by Rahul Gandhi, is holding interviews across the country to find talent among young party candidates. The selected candidates would be groomed as spokespersons at various levels.
