Dial-a-quote no longer easy

The Congress has 12 spokespersons on its panel, but Delhi journalists suddenly find they are not as accessible as they used to be for a quote or two on phone.

This is so because some of them have been nominated for the elections and are busy campaigning in far-flung areas.

The party has had to rope in stalwarts like union minister Kapil Sibal for daily press briefings. Despite contesting, Sibal is available because his constituency, Chandni Chowk, is within Delhi.

Manish Tewari and Shakeel Ahmad used to be the most regular Congress faces at the party’s 4 p.m. briefings before the polls were announced, but both have become unreachable. They are contesting from Ludhiana in Punjab and Madhubani in Bihar respectively.