Cong to have new channels to reach out

After more than a century and a quarter of its existence, the Indian National Congress is set to go on air. The grand old party will soon launch a national television mouthpiece in Hindi, to counter critics and spread its ideologies among the rural populace.

According to a well-placed source in the Congress, talks are on for the launch of a new national channel and two regional channels, possibly within a year. The party’s Kerala wing already runs an entertainment-cum-news channel called Jai Hind in Malayalam.

“A proposal was submitted to party president Sonia Gandhi and preliminary discussions have taken place. The Kerala channel was a pilot experiment, but we would be giving technical support to the three new channels. Discussions for regional channels in Maharashtra and Rajasthan are also going on,” said M M Hassan, the managing director of Jai Hind and a senior Congress leader. Regarding the timeline of the launch, he said the party was keen to go on air as soon as possible, possibly within a year.

Jai Hind TV is owned and operated by Bharat Broadcasting Network Ltd (BBNL). “A Kerala Pradesh Congress-owned trust has a 51 per cent share in the channel and the rest is held by some non-resident Indian investors. Whether the same format will be followed nationally, depends upon the party high command. Our proposal was to use the Jai Hind banner in other languages also,” Hassan said.

According to sources, AICC General Secretary Oscar Fernandes is spearheading the talks.

When asked, Fernandes said, “The Kerala experiment was a huge success. Party-owned channels will help to spread information in a proper manner. The Congress central leadership will decide on carrying out a similar operation nationally.”

Jai Hind was launched on August 17, 2007, with an initial investment of Rs 33 crore.

“Till now, we have invested Rs 60 crore and expect to achieve break-even in another three years. We are also planning to invest another Rs 50 crore in the near future,” Hassan said. The group has got the bandwidth to launch three channels and hence launching of two other channels, including a news channel, is under KPCC’s consideration,” he added.

In Kerala, channel owned by Malayalam Communications Ltd functions as a vehicle of the CPM. In Tamil Nadu, television is used as a means of spreading the party propaganda by the AIADMK (Jaya TV) and DMK (Kalaignar and Sun). Trinamool Congress, a part of the United Progressive Alliance, is also planning to launch a news channel in West Bengal soon.