Hit by controversies after senior party leaders and ministers targeted each other in the media, the Congress on Tuesday asked its leaders not air their views in public or interact with the media on issues beyond their respective briefs and responsibilities.
AICC general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi, who is also head of the party’s media department, told reporters: “It is an established organisational norm that those holding responsible and crucial posts in the party should speak only on subjects which come under areas of their responsibility while interacting with the media.”
Mr Dwivedi made it clear this was a “clear directive” by the party and it should not be violated.
“There should not be any confusion on the issue,” he said.
The Congress diktat came with a section of leaders speaking on issues outside their jurisdiction.
The party apparently was in an embarrassing situation with senior leaders like Digvijay Singh, R.K. Dhawan, Satyavrat Chaturvedi and Vasant Sathe airing their views on the Warren Anderson issue. These leaders also kept contradicting each other, which helped the Opposition to launch a scathing attack against the Congress.
Party sources made it clear that the directive issued on Tuesday was not merely confined to the Bhopal gas tragedy.
The Congress leaders and ministers have been asked to follow it on each and every issue.