Cong appoints Jairam Ramesh as head of its communication, media wing

The Congress on Thursday appointed Jairam Ramesh as the AICC general secretary in-charge of communication, publicity and media, replacing Randeep Surjewala.

A party statement said Surjewala has been relieved of his current responsibility as the general secretary in-charge of communication and will continue as the general secretary in-charge of Karnataka.

Ramesh, a former Union minister and Rajya Sabha MP, has been appointed by party chief Sonia Gandhi as the general secretary in-charge of communication, publicity and media, including social and digital media, with immediate effect, according to the release issued by general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal.

The party had resolved to revamp its communication and media department at its three-day brainstorming session in Udaipur last month.

In the changing environment, the jurisdiction, scope and structure of the media and communication department of the Congress should be expanded and made more effective with the help of subject-matter experts, and by connecting media, social media, data, research, etc. to the communication department, the party had said in its Udaipur Nav Sankalp Declaration.

All the media, social media, research departments of the states should be placed directly under the communication department of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) so that the message of the party can be spread in every nook and corner of the country every day, the party had said.