Ahead of Maharashtra polls, BJP and Cong announce teams for media connect

The BJP and the Congress have announced their teams to engage with the media ahead of the Maharashtra assembly polls, which are likely to be held in October.

The BJP, which is part of the ruling alliance in he state, released a list of more than 30 leaders who will speak to the media at 9am and 4pm everyday.

The list includes new entrants Ashok Chavan, who was a former Congress chief minister, and lawyer Ujjwal Nikam as well as Pankaja Munde, who was recently elected as MLC.

The state BJP media coordinator Navnath Ban will coordinate with all the leaders. Apart from these three, Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar, former Union minister Raosaheb Danve , BJP group leader in the legislative council Pravin Darekar, state ministers Sudhir Mungantiwar, Girish Mahajan, MLAs Nitesh Rane, Atul Bhatkalkar, Ram Kadam and senior party leader and vice president Madhav Bhandari have also been appointed as spokespersons.

Newly elected Pune MP and Union minister Murlidhar Mohol has been appointed by the party on the list of spokespersons for regional issues.

On its part, the Congress has appointed 15 leaders to bust what the party calls fake narratives of the BJP and to ensure people in the state are made aware of the truth.

The BJP and its IT Cell are misleading the people of the state by spreading fake narratives on a large scale through editing of photos and videos of opposition leaders, a Congress leader said.

To make the people of the state aware about the truth and to curb the false propaganda of the ruling party, the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee has assigned the responsibility to a team of fifteen leaders and spokespersons as per instructions of Congress's Maharashtra in-charge Ramesh Chennithala, he said.

State unit president Nana Patole, Leader of the Congress Legislature Party Balasaheb Thorat, Leader of the Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar, former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, former state unit chief and Goa in-charge Manikrao Thakre, Congress Group Leader in the Legislative Council Satej Patil are on the list.

Others include state party working president and former minister Naseem Khan, MP Chandrakant Handore, former minister Nitin Raut, MLAs Yashomati Thakur, Amit Deshmukh, Vishwajeet Kadam, chief spokesperson Atul Londhe, Sachin Sawant and Charan Singh Sapra.

They will convey the party's position to the people through press conferences and media interactions, while the responsibility of coordinating with them has been given to state Congress media coordinator Shrinivas Bikkad.

Senior journalist and political analyst Prakash Akolkar said enhanced engagement with the media is the need of the hour for all political parties. "Times have changed and the functioning of the media has changed. Everything has to be instant. Immediate reactions to developments and issues are required. Any issue raised by a political party needs immediate counter from the opposite side," he said.