Congress appoints Supriya Shrinate, ex-journalist as spokesperson of All India Congress Committee
New Delhi, Sep 21: The Congress on Saturday appointed Supriya Shrinate, a former Delhi-based journalist and daughter of late Uttar Pradesh MP Harsh Vardhan, as the party spokesperson.
"Sonia Gandhi has approved the appointment of Shrinate as spokesperson of the All India Congress Committee," the party's communications in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala said in a statement.
Shrinate had contested unsuccessfully as a Congress candidate from Uttar Pradesh's Maharajganj parliamentary constituency in the Lok Sabha polls.
In March, the Congress replaced jailed politician Amarmani Tripathi's daughter Tanushree Tripathi with Shrinate as its Lok Sabha candidate from Maharajganj, which was earlier represented by the former journalist's father.
The party faced a major embarrassment when Tanushree Tripathi's name was announced both by the grand old party and the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia led by Mulayam Singh Yadav's brother Shivpal Singh Yadav.
Shrinate's father Harsh Vardhan was also a Congress leader.
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'Rear-guard action': BJP over Mamata accepting sports minister's resignation after Messi event
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Tuesday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's accepting Aroop Biswas' resignation as the state sports minister is nothing but a "rear-guard action" to douse public anger over the mismanagement of football icon Lionel Messi's event last week.
BJP co-in-charge for West Bengal Amit Malviya alleged that this is also an "open confession" that the Messi event fiasco was not accidental but a government-manufactured disaster, borne out of the poor governance of Banerjee, her ministers and the state bureaucracy.
Banerjee on Tuesday accepted Biswas' resignation as the sports minister in the wake of the controversy over the mismanagement of football icon Messi's event last week, a senior leader of the ruling TMC said.
Biswas, who had written to the chief minister seeking to be relieved of his responsibilities as sports minister, will continue as a cabinet minister, retaining charge of the power department.
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Reacting to the development, Malviya said in a post on X, "TMC Sports Minister Aroop Biswas resigns after the Messi fiasco and Mamata Banerjee accepts it in record time."
"Do not mistake this for accountability; this is nothing but a rear-guard action to douse public anger. anger! This is not 'Raj Dharma'," he added.
The BJP leader alleged that the incident was the outcome of "loot" of common people which is "so synonymous" with the TMC.
The incident was also the outcome of the "shameless VIP culture that TMC thrives on and deep-rooted cronyism promoted by Banerjee," he charged.
Malviya further alleged that Biswas' resignation exposes a "collective failure of Mamata Banerjee, her partisan bureaucracy, and her crony cabinet".
"This is a symbolic sacrifice, a political hoax, soon to be buried under layers of bureaucracy, with no justice, no accountability, and no remorse," the BJP leader said, adding, "No resignation will bring back the time lost, the money wasted, or the stolen chance for football lovers to witness Messi in Kolkata."
