Youth Cong to take on Anna, Ramdev

The media response to the anti-corruption campaigns of Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev has prompted not only the Congress to launch a counter-publicity blitz across the country but also compelled its youth wing to go for an image makeover.

The media response to the anti-corruption campaigns of Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev has prompted not only the Congress to launch a counter-publicity blitz across the country but also compelled its youth wing to go for an image makeover.

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On the directions of Rahul Gandhi, the Youth Congress has formed a working committee on media management to deliberate and evolve a strategy to project the organisation's image in a better way besides improving the coordination with the media fraternity.

“Rahulji supported the idea…he felt the need for course correction,” a Youth Congress leader said. Sources said the initiative was taken at the three-day national executive of the Youth Congress at Rishikesh in Uttarakhand in May. To counter Hazare and Ramdev, who have been occupying much of the media space these days, the Congress has already launched a publicity blitz to debunk their anti-corruption campaigns.

The party would soon bring out a booklet on the lokpal bill, the second after 'The Congress View of Present Situation' that listed the government's plans to deal with black money and corruption. On his part, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also kicked off his outreach strategy by holding a freewheeling interaction with a group of editors on Wednesday.

Many Youth Congress leaders have been stressing the need for forming a panel of spokespersons to spell out party programmes and frequently interact with journalists.

Since 2008, the Youth Congress does not have a spokesperson. That time, it had three spokespersons and a media coordinator as well. At the Rishikesh national executive, the Youth Congress formed another working group on women empowerment. The committee will look at the opportunities for developing women leadership in the organisation.

“The total strength of women in the Youth Congress currently stands at 20%. We are planning to increase their participation and empower them,” president Rajeev Satav said.