AGENCIES

New Delhi, Aug 03: With the Government and the Congress becoming euphoric over the IAEA approval to the Indo-US nuclear deal, Rahul Gandhi is expected to set the tone this week for party campaign on the issue ahead of a series of elections in the country.

The AICC general secretary is expected to be the star speaker at the daylong workshop on August 6 of party spokespersons across the country.

Gandhi had already spoken on the nuclear issue in Parliament during which he underlined the need for energy security and suggested that there should not be a fear of the unknown.

Ahead of the trust vote in the Manmohan Singh Cabinet, he had even said in an emotional speech that the nuclear deal was more important than the survival of the government.

The day-long meet of spokespersons will primarily focus on the importance of the nuclear deal apart from covering some other issues, party sources said.

Sources said the main idea behind the workshop was to help the spokespersons get acquainted with the nitty-gritty of the deal so that they communicate its importance to the people ahead of Assembly elections in several states to be followed by the general elections.

It is learnt that senior leaders Pranab Mukherjee, P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal and M Veerappa Moily would interact with the spokespersons to get the message through.

The spokespersons of the party at the central level would also guide their counterparts at the state and the district level on communication skills.

Congress sources said the meet was an exercise to spruce up the ruling party's press and publicity machinery in the election year.

The party last month appointed 11 spokespersons, in addition to the existing ones to aggressively counter allegations of the opposition and explain the benefits of the deal and other issues of concern to the public.

Last year, a similar workshop was held for the spokespersons.

The workshop is taking place in the backdrop of party President Sonia Gandhi's emphasis on the need to communicate the achievements of the government in the last four years.

In her signed article in 'Congress Sandesh', she claimed non-Congress state governments were taking credit for programmes of the government. "We must mobilise our party workers into communicating the truth to the people," she said.