To rescue image,Congress solution: gag our Ministers,MPs

The 18-member team authorised to talk does not include several big names and TV regulars.

The Congress high command has passed a gag order on all its leaders,including Members of Parliament and ministers in the UPA government,instructing them not to talk to the media. While the ruling party has been issuing such instructions from time to time,this is the first time that Ministers and MPs have also been covered.

This is to bring to your notice that in future only those persons who have been authorised by the party will participate in debates/discussions in media, said a Congress circular issued by General Secretary (Organisation) Janardan Dwivedi on December 3. It was sent to all party office-bearers,MPs and Ministers.

The circular came in the context of the ruling partys plan to put up a united face against the Oppositions offensive on the 2G spectrum scam. With the Opposition planning to hit the streets on the issue of corruption,the ruling party is readying for a counter-offensive after the current session of Parliament.

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Last week,the Congress created an 18-member team whose members are now the only ones authorised to speak to the media. The new team does not include top leaders like Pranab Mukherjee and P Chidambaram. Many other senior leaders,familiar faces on television,will also have to stay away. They include Digvijaya Singh,Kapil Sibal,Salman Khursheed,Veerappa Moily and Mukul Wasnik.

The circular has caused unease in the party. Many state leaders have complained that the media team essentially comprises Delhi-based leaders. Congress sources said that the party has authorized one MP from each state to speak on its behalf in their respective states.

It is quite an unusual step. We can only assume that ministers can at least talk about their ministries,which fall under their areas of responsibility as stated in the previous circular meant for party office-bearers. The party never sent any circulars to those in the government in the past, a Union Minister told The Indian Express.

Sources said that the partys image has taken a battering given a series of scams and corruption charges involving its leaders. It has been confounded by the electoral disaster in Bihar and the rebellion by Y S Jaganmohan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh. We have to regroup and try to change public perception. Therefore,when our new media team met here last week,they were of the view that the party should not be seen as speaking in different voices. We do not want a situation where a senior leader or MP or minister goes to a TV channel and says things which are not in keeping with our stance, said a senior Congress officebearer.

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The Congress had earlier issued a gag order in the wake of controversial pronouncements by General Secretary Digvijaya Singh. Singh and many others,however,continued to speak to reporters.

The new team comprises Union Ministers Ambika Soni,Ghulam Nabi Azad,P K Bansal,C P Joshi and Jairam Ramesh,besides Janardan Dwivedi,Satyavrat Chaturvedi,Raj Babbar,Renuka Chowdhury,P C Chacko,Manish Tewari,Abhishek Singhvi,Shakeel Ahmed,Mohan Prakash,Jayanthi Natarajan,Girija Vyas and Sanjay Nirupam.