President Pranab Mukherjee’s daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee is gaining recognition here working as the communications head of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) for the upcoming municipal elections.
Speaking about her role in the party, Mukherjee said, “Other than being a spokesperson for the party, my main charge in DPCC is communications. Our purpose is to form a group of individuals who understand the people well. Our social media team is going ‘organic’—we are not relying on add-on technical solutions or software to promote ourselves in the digital as well as the physical world. We are trying to replicate the same organic strategy in the way we communicate with the public through social media.”
Talking about DPCC’s MCD election strategy, she told this reporter, “We have expanded our social media team a lot. Now we have a team of people focusing at every level. Starting from a parliamentary constituency, our aim is to appoint a team of social media on every booth. Other than that, we have a dedicated research team which works on facts and figures, with which we substantiate our stand against the government’s policies that are not helpful to the people. We have a strong RTI team too. All these things come under my responsibilities and I am also learning on the job.”
Asked about her emerging as a strong “second-wheel” to Ajay Maken in Delhi, Mukherjee said, “I will not take any titles. It is under Ajay Maken’s leadership that the DPCC has become a strong opposition in Delhi. I am doing what I can in realising the strategies that Ajay Maken is laying out and I think with his work, Congress will make a 100% comeback. The MCD elections will play as a trailer for that.”
Mukherjee said, “Right now I am rooted in Delhi Congress. I have got a lot of support and guidance from senior leaders and there is a lot that I can learn here working with Ajay Maken.”
Sharmistha Mukherjee had fought the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections from Greater Kailash (GK) constituency against Saurabh Bharadwaj (Aam Aadmi Party) and Rakesh Gullaiya (Bharatiya Janata Party). She stood third after AAP and BJP.
A trained Kathak dancer, this was Mukherjee’s first stint in mainstream politics after she joined the Indian National Congress in July the same year.
Ever since, her participation in grass-roots politics has gained momentum along with her social media presence.
Her stand against cyber bullying received a lot of appreciation when she posted screenshots of a sexual offender who had been sending her lewd messages on a social media platform.
Laying out the road map for the MCD elections, earlier this week, Ajay Maken announced the release of a working paper on fiscal management on 28 February, to make the municipal corporations of Delhi “self-reliant”.
Maken said that the Delhi Congress would also come out with three more working papers on solid waste management, health and primary education.