When silence is best way to speak for Congress

These are unusual times. None of the old rules are sacrosanct. For instance, like dressing room secrets, off the record briefings are supposed to stay just like that. But then Congress spokespersons are afraid of the media these days.

“Trust you, no way,” shot back a usually effervescent Renuka Chaudhary when an reporter asked her views off the record about the Telangana agitation. Clearly, she had visions of her views being splashed all over the Telugu newspapers and being breathlessly reported by television anchors within minutes.

Generally she is never short of words and also indulges in some lavish metaphor play. She has no hesitation in saying Rahul Gandhi is not a parrot, who would speak when we want him to or for finding a solution to the Telangana is not cooking vegetables in a cooker, that you can say will be ready after two whistles. 

For a party that has over a dozen brilliant voices all generously endowed with the ability to handle issues with a quick turn of the phrase, it finds that even spending long hours with the journos yield precious little beyond stonewalling penetrating questions.

The accumulated consequence of all this is that in the long months of the at times media-driven Anna Hazare agitation, beginning from their team leader Janardan Dwivedi, the entire bunch of Congress spokespersons has been pretty inadequate.

Of course, the hapless Manish Tewari, otherwise quite an articulate and effective man, had to suffer the worst fate of being forced to eat his words after breathing fire. Then the party took him off duty, and brought him back recently.

Wisdom by hindsight is the easiest and the cheapest thing to acquire, so there can be any amount of criticism. But your ability as a spokesperson is tested only when your words stand the test of time. Sadly, on this score, the party spokespersons have been found wanting not just vis-a-vis others but even by their own party leaders. It is now difficult to keep a track of the number of times the spokespersons have distanced themselves from the comments of leaders like Digvijay Singh and then backed it at some other time. “He has the uncanny track record of proving right in such matters,” said Manish Tewari recently.

The gag order issued by Dwivedi that leaders would not speak on issues that do not relate to their domain has also gone for a toss, simply because the lack of its feasibility and the fact that in a democracy you cannot be seen to hauling up people simply because they are speaking out their mind on public issues.

Spokespersons only reflect party’s health, and their individual ability lies in providing the right kind of spin. Sadly, for the Congress, in times of its ill health, when it is at the receiving end, the spin doctors instead of providing relief, are all at sea themselves.