Congress communication workshop today

The Congress party will hold a two-day 'All India communication workshop' for its members here from Monday. This is aimed at training its spokespersons, television panelists and select state leaders on how to handle conventional print and television media, as well as the new social media landscape. The workshop assumes significance against the backdrop of various political parties readying for the general elections in 2014.

A Congress leader said the emphasis would be on how to highlight the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's achievements, such as the food security ordinance. Members are also expected to be trained on how to counter the Bhartiya Janata Party's attack on the UPA's handling of the economy.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will deliver the opening remarks. Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Food Minister K V Thomas, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh and the director of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies, G Mohan Gopal, will attend the workshop. The newly appointed in-charge of social media,

Deepender Hooda, will speak on it. The party's students and youth wings will also be in attendance, with 15 representatives each.

To ensure the UPA message does not get restricted to just the national-level spokespersons and gets disseminated to the states as well where elections are to be held not just for the general elections but Assembly polls as well, every state unit has been asked to nominate five representatives for this workshop.

As Ajay Maken, the communications in-charge of the party puts it, the reason the BJP is able to attack the UPA so easily is because the latter's achievements have not been communicated to the people in a proper manner. Therefore, the attempt to train its partymen to convey the party message.