Indicating that he was not happy with Mani Shankar Aiyar’s chaiwala jibe at BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday disapproved of personal attacks on Opposition leaders.
The controversy over senior party member Janardan Dwivedi’s recent remarks on reservation also figured at Rahul’s meeting with Congress spokespersons and media panelists. “It is wrong to make personal attacks on Opposition,” Rahul said even as he solicited suggestions on the best mode of communicating the message of Congress to the masses ahead of the lok Sabha elections.
Rahul’s remark is significant given the fact that BJP is exploiting Aiyer’s jibe at Modi to the hilt to reach out to voters by launching a nationwide campaign to allow people to engage with Modi over a cup of tea. Party MP Bhalchandra Mungekar said that remarks like denigrating the chaiwala (tea seller) will not do the party any good. “Do not denigrate chaiwala. Such comments are unnecessary and they may derail the debate,” Mungekar, who is one of the TV panelists of the party, said.
Rahul said that in the face of a constant negative campaign, Congress spokespersons are doing a tremendous job. He also sought suggestions from them on the campaign theme. The meeting saw party leaders underlining the need to effectively expose the Opposition by pointing out deficiencies in their claims backed with data.
Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who has been made one of the senior spokespersons, underlined the need to focus on the regional media instead of the national media to reach out to people. Maken, who is in charge of the AICC Media department, detailed the steps taken to ensure an effective strategy to get the party’s message across.