KOCHI: Despite the shift in electioneering to digital platforms, the persuasive power of effective oratory continues to resonate with voters. Recognising that, the Congress has lined up 200 speakers to spice up the campaigning across all 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state.
These articulate speakers have been tasked with disseminating the party’s policies and key campaign topics to counter targeted attacks from political opponents.
According to Congress leaders, these orators are the party’s “ideological arsenal” and perhaps the real ‘star campaigners’ of the party which aims to repeat the near sweep it achieved in 2019.
The concept was proposed by the Ramesh Chennithala-led KPCC election campaign committee, as the party believes that compelling speakers wield a greater sway over the voters even in the digital age. These individuals, chosen from various levels of the party, have been trained at the party headquarters, Indira Bhavan, in Thiruvananthapuram to accentuate crucial themes and party policies.
The workshop organised for the speakers was attended by top party leaders, including Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan and the AICC leader-in-charge of the party affairs in the state, Deepa Das Munshi.
Campaign committee convenor Pandalam Sudhakaran said the orators were selected by the district committees concerned. “The party has picked 10 members from each Parliament constituency,” he pointed out. CPM, the main political opponent, is now attacking the Congress citing the defection of leaders and the party stand regarding the Citizenship Amendment Act, while the BJP is highlighting the dynastic culture.
“Campaigning is only picking up and we will devise a strategy to counter opponents. Currently, the focus is on disseminating the party’s ideology among the people. They will act as ‘ideological weapon’ of the party,” said senior Congress leader and member of campaign committee, Cherian Philip.
The training session was held under the leadership of Cherian Philip on Monday, from 10am to 5pm.“There are a lot of topics for campaigning but these speakers will focus on uniform policies to reach out to the masses. They will highlight the anti-people policies of Pinarayi Vijayan’s regime in the state and Narendra Modi’s rule in the Centre as well,” he added.
The speakers have been trained to deal with the media, both conventional and social, too. “The directive is not to defame or abuse opponents in any way. We have to follow a polite way of campaigning everywhere, including on social media,” Pandalam Sudhakaran said.