In a surprise move, the state Congress president Dr Nirmal Khatri nominated seven Congressmen as official spokespersons of t he party. Ironically, these leaders had earlier refused to comply with Khatri’s orders and continued with t heir appearance on TV channles as party representative despite being removed from the media team by the state Congress chief.
Chairman of UP Congress Media Cell, Satyadeo Tripathi released the names of the new panel of spokes persons authorised to speak for the party. The list include the names of Surendra Rajput, Dr Hilal Ahmed, Amarnath Agarwal, Siddharthpriya Srivastava, Onkarnath Singh, Ashok Singh for the electronic channel panel while Manoj Tyagi has been made a co-ordinator of media in the Delhi camp office.
What is more, Khatri also appointed Vibhakar Shastri as vice-chairman of UP Congress Media Cell thereby creating three posts of the same designation besides a Chairman. When asked on this score on Monday, Satyadeo Tripathi refused to comment saying that he was asked to release the new panel which he did.
Interestingly, Khatri did not include one spokesperson removed earlier on the grounds that since he has to contest the Assembly polls from east UP constituency, he must be present there instead of making TV appearnces in lucknow. However, another spokesman who too was removed was retained in the new team even as he is aspirant in the Assembly polls.
Earlier, all the above except Onkarnath Singh and Tyagi were in the UPCC Media Cell which was dissolved. Singh held the post of Administrator but he and then spokesman Ashok Singh, citing personal reasons had resigned from their posts. Now both are back again in the panel.
Reacting to development, a senior Congress leader and former minister in the UPA-2 government at the Centre, said that such move by the UPCC chief will facilitate indiscipline in the party. “These leaders were removed from the media cell by Khatri himself. They openly disobeyed his order and continued to participate in discussions in TV channels. And they refused to react despite being objections from the senior leaders,” pointed out the former minister. Retaining them ince again only gives out t message that those involved in discipline will be rewarded by the UPCC chief,” asserted the leader.