UP Cong announces 22 members media team

Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee announced a 22-member media team ahead of the crucial 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

However the new committee seemed to be selected by UP Congress chief Raj Babbar and not on the basis of merit as written exams were conducted by All India Congress Committee (AICC) a week back. Interestingly, the 14-member UPCC media team will be led by lesser known Rajeev Bakshi, who has been appointed as co-ordinator while other members include - Hilal Naqvi, Ashok Singh, Onkar Singh, Zeeshan Haider and Anshu Awasthi.

Former Congress MP Zafar Ali Naqvi’s son Saif Ali Naqvi and former MP,  PL Punia’s son Tanuj Punia were also accommodated in the team while Ms Suchi Biswas was the only woman in the team.

Former Lucknow Municipal Corporation councillor Mukesh Singh Chauhan also found a place in the media team.

Surprisingly, Babbar made a separate section of Special Invitees in the committee with four senior members of the erstwhile media team. The team include Virendra Madan, Amarnath Agarwal, Dwijendra Tripathi and Surendra Rajput.

But they have served with a rider that they would only give inputs when the media team sought assistance. There is also a media input team led by senior media person Subodh Srivastava.

Last week , written tests and interviews were held to select the media team which was taken by 90 leaders. The process was co-ordinated by AICC media co-ordinator Rohan Gupta. The party also announced that everyone taking the exams, would be given some responsibility in the party. The process however created bickerings among state Congress leaders.

A Congress leader and member of the previous media team, said that in coming days the new team would crash on its own as most appointees did not know the political equation in the state and how to defend the party.