NEW DELHI: In order to ensure better coordination and uniform dissemination of the party standpoint on policies and issues, the Congress has set up a panel of 20 spokespersons to meet the growing demand of round-the-clock television news networks.

The "authorised" panel, sent to various news channels by Janardan Dwivedi, chairman, media department, is packed with a dozen Union Ministers and six with the party organisation.

The idea is to ensure that the organisation does not have to defend itself for "inappropriate or uninformed" comments made by party members before television audience, said a Congress leader.

Yet, some of the senior members associated with the media do not find a place. Prominent among them are former chief spokesperson and Union Minister S. Jaipal Reddy, former head of the media department Ambika Soni, former general secretary Devendranath Dwivedi and current television favourite, Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal.

The missing list also includes general secretary and one of the four party spokespersons Mukul Wasnik, AICC secretaries Tom Vadakkan, who has been with the department for nearly two decades, Ved Prakash and Dalbir Singh.

CWC members B.K. Hari Prasad, Satyavrat Chatruvedi and V. Narayanasamy, all Rajya Sabha MPs, have been drafted into the panel.

The Union Ministers whose names figure in the list include Suresh Pachouri, Renuka Chowdhury, Pawan Kumar Bansal, Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, Kapil Sibal, Ashwani Kumar and Jairam Ramesh.

Mohan Prakash, former chief spokesperson of the Janata Dal (United), finds himself rehabilitated after having been admitted to the party about three years ago.

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