Swaraj, the Bharatiya Janata Party's articulate and suave MP, had been briefing the media before she joined the government as minister but was relegated to the wilderness following the party's debacle in the Delhi Assembly elections last November.

That she has now been brought back to take over a task she excelled in is a clear indicator that the party high command does not want to take any chances, what with its main rival, the Congress, fielding a galaxy of senior leaders to air the party's views on domestic and foreign issues.

Already, the party's seriousness was evident from the fact that two senior party general secretaries, Narendra Modi and K N Govindacharya, have been briefing the media in the recent past. Eminent lawyer Arun Jaitley is also likely to join the panel ofBJP spokespersons.

The party is apparently looking for presentable faces with a clear mind on issues to counter the Congress, which has set up a nine-member media department headed by the veteran Pranab Mukherjee.

Former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh has been making clear the Congress stand on foreign affairs as well as defence-related issues, sending BJP leaders scouting for ``experts'' on various subjects. The party has formed a panel of party leaders specialising in various fields, to appear on television, and issued guidelines to TV show hosts who intend calling BJP leaders to their programme.

The televeision channels, instead of approaching BJP leaders directly, will now have to route their request through the party's media cell headed by veteran journalist Arun Shourie. TV channels will also have to mention the subject of discussion in their request letter.

The channels will be free to state their preference for a particular leader to appear in their show but the final decision will betaken by the media cell keeping in view the subject of discussion as well as participants from other parties.

The decision has been taken to boost the party's image on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections. ``We want to ensure that BJP leaders are not found wanting during a discussion on television,'' explained a senior BJP leader. The media cell has also been asked to prepare briefs on various subjects, which will be given to party leaders appearing on TV shows.

The BJP began Operation Image-Building by initially fielding senior members of the party's Central Election Management Committee as spokespersons (Modi, Govindacharya and Swaraj are among them). Some more leaders may be given a chance to wax eloquent on the party's views in the run-up to the elections, so as to finalise the panel, a BJP leader said.