party spokespersons
are the new heroes
The demands of television have
created a furore in every political party. Every TV channel needs a party
spokesperson on its evening show. If the representative of a political party is
not seen on screen, it appears hell will break loose and the nation will be
disappointed. Not surprisingly, every party has a department with these ‘guest
coordinators’ for TV channels. It’s a full-time department that tracks the
news, reads newspapers, keeps track of tweets and so on. The job of the media
department and these so-called spokespersons starts from the morning. This new
breed of politicians dresses up in the morning and is ready to speak to the
nation from morning till evening. They are the new heroes of their political
parties. However, being in the opposition, the Congress is faced with a
peculiar predicament. The party has 44 members of Parliament and 64
spokespersons. The guest coordinators are in great demand and are not averse to
throw their weight around. They have their own whims and fancies and they send
those spokespersons who take care of their personal needs. Nobody wants to go
to the less-known TV channels and popular TV channels have their own choice of
leaders. When the controversy about Robert Vadra, Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law,
was highlighted by the media, the instructions were to defend Vadra but some
spokespersons refused, stating that Vadra was not a Congress party member and
officially the Congress was under no obligation to defend him. Those who dared
to defy the diktat have been shown the door. Sources even disclose that some
newly recruited spokespersons brief senior team members on how to behave, speak
and deal with the media. g
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