Maharashtra Cong banks on national strategists

Ahead of the assembly elections, the Maharashtra unit of Congress has roped in the general secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), Avinash Pandey and Congress national spokesperson, Jai Veer Shergill to supervise and strategise the party’s political campaigns.

Pandey spearheaded the Congress campaign during the Rajasthan assembly elections in 2018. He is also credited for reviving the party image which led to its victory in polls.

Speaking to the Free Press Journal, Pandey informed that his role includes examination of all the research data, to establish booth level coordination among party workers and building the tempo among workers.

“I have asked every cadre of my party to identify the issues that local people are facing at the booth level, following which we are raising each issue in our campaign rallies and also finding out solutions to solve them as well,” said Pandey.

He is also supervising the media team, monitoring activities of the digital war room and also coordinating in writing the speeches for key speakers.

When asked if his involvement in the Maharashtra polls is due to the party’s lack of local administration, Pandey affirmed that the local administration is functioning smoothly but he is here to provide an expertise.

“The local administration is well coordinated and functioning well. As I am born in Maharashtra and am well aware of the local language and dialects, the high command asked me to come here and lend a helping hand in the campaign,” he added.

Recently, Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam’s statement against his own party workers opened the gates for a fresh controversy. Speaking on which the senior politician informed there is no internal conflict among the party and everyone is working together to ensure that Congress wins the election.

“There is no internal conflict among workers, though there might be some disagreement. Also, when you are running an organisation, there are bound to be some disagreements. But now if any dispute takes place, it is being resolved immediately,” asserted Pandey.

Jai Veer Shergill has been made the in-charge of Congress’s media cell for the assembly elections. Amidst the several responsibilities, his main task includes to ensure dissemination of positive information, to make sure the on-ground campaign of the local leaders garner enough media attention and to create a connectivity with the voters.

“The BJP is fighting elections not on local issues, but based on political propaganda of issues like Article 370,” said Shergill,

“Our job is to diffuse the propaganda by countering them with the daily life issues which the voters are facing,” he added.

Shergill terms his strategy of campaign as a ‘Triple barrel gun theory’.

“We are countering the opposition from three sides on a regular basis - political rally, press conference and social media campaign,” informed the 36-year old political strategist.

When asked if there are not enough strategists in the Congress’s Maharashtra unit, Shergill stated his party believes in democracy and collective leadership. He is being sent only to provide expertise as he has a significant amount of experience in media management.

Pandey informed that his role includes examination of all the research data, to establish booth level coordination among party workers and building the tempo among workers