The Congress on Wednesday launched its digital media platform ‘INC TV’ on You Tube on the birth anniversary of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar.
The channel will begin airing on April 24 to coincide with Panchayati Raj Day, an initiative of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The channel at present will be only in Hindi and English and will broadcast for eight hours.
The party already has a You Tube channel where it broadcasts its press conferences and videos of public meetings addressed by its leaders.
The new digital platform will put out content which, the party feels, mainstream TV channels ignore. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and other senior leaders have repeatedly attacked the media for being pliant and biased in favour of the BJP government.
The BJP also has a YouTube channel with 3.67 million followers.
The Congress channel will be led by former TV personality Bhupendra N. Singh.
Addressing a press conference on the occasion of the launch, party general secretary Randeep Surjewala said INC TV would be expanded gradually.
The Congress leadership, he said, felt the need to have a platform to air the Congress ideology and thoughts at a time when freedom of expression was endangered.
“Today subjugation and suppression of dissent and opinion is near total in this country. The INC TV digital platform is for dissemenation of views and opinion which may be acceptable to us and some which may not be. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi is of the opinion that various shades of opinion must be placed on the table to eliberate upon,” he added.
He said the party would expand it to other regional languages too, depending on the logistics and resources.
Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and All India Congress Committee general secretary Mallikarjun Kharge, NSUI president Neeraj Kundan and Mahila Congress president Sushmita Dev were also present at the launch.
Mr. Kharge said even Ambedkar believed that journalism had become a trade in India and it was the BJP that was proving him right today.
