Date:13/07/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/13/stories/2008071359841200.htm

National

Government launches ad offensive

Anita Joshua

12 more Congress spokespersons to join issue with opponents on nuclear deal

Advertisements bank on Kakodkar’s statement
Go on the front foot, Sonia tells general secretaries

NEW DELHI: The government and the Congress have launched a counter-offensive to articulate their position on the India-U.S. nuclear deal.

The morning newspapers in Delhi on Saturday carried big advertisements claiming that “Tomorrow can be dark if we don’t see the light today” and “If we don’t do now, history will not forgive us.” Issued by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry, the advertisements also said: “The nation now needs to unite and support the government for the economic growth and better future of the country.”

Bearing the photographs of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, the advertisements bank heavily on the support for the deal that has come from Atomic Energy Commission chief Anil Kakodkar. Not only has he been quoted at length, one of the two advertisements used his “if we don’t do now, history will not forgive us” statement prominently.

Besides stressing the need to seize the “moment now to secure India’s future,” the advertisements seek to explain the urgency the government has been attaching to operationalise the deal. In particular, they highlighted the rising crude prices in a bid to make the deal appear crucial to day-to-day existence.

The Congress has decided to launch a propaganda blitz. Ms. Gandhi appointed 12 additional spokespersons to join issue with political opponents in television debates on the nuclear deal.

The new faces on the reinforced panel of spokespersons include Digvijay Singh, Prithviraj Chavan, Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, Renuka Chowdhury, Kumari Selja, Pawan Kumar Bansal, Jitin Prasada, Salman Khursheed, Anand Sharma and Ajay Maken.

On Saturday, Ms. Gandhi convened a meeting of general secretaries specifically to shore up the party’s propaganda machinery. Stressing the need to counter the misinformation campaign launched against the UPA in general and the Congress in particular by the opposing parties, she asked them to go on the front foot and bat for the deal.

Pamphlets

The Congress plans to come out with fresh pamphlets, explaining the benefits of the deal and the sequence of events that led to the current political instability. Also, it will be pointed out that the Congress has even risked its government because of its conviction that the deal is good for India.