The Congress party's national drive of examining leaders and appointing the top performers in key media facing roles in every state has reached Bihar, where the state unit is expecting a competing pool of more than 800 aspirants, where the leadership would finally select around 30 leaders on the merit basis.
The Congress party's National Talent Hunt programme, which was launched in July 2025, is an initiative designed to identify, train, and empower a new generation of media spokespersons, panellists and researchers to represent the party at different levels.
"We are looking for people from villages and urban areas, those who speak regional languages, who are strong in their subjects, articulate in speech and writing, and possess serious research interests. We want individuals who can think, study issues deeply, and contribute intellectually," Gyan Ranjhan, Bihar Congress spokesperson, says, "That is the kind of talent we are trying to identify across Bihar. Some of them, once they prove themselves, will also have the opportunity to join the national team.”
According to Congress leaders, the top 3 to 5 leaders will be selected for national assignments and will particularly represent at the national level as media panelists, spokespersons and be part of national research teams. The remaining 25 leaders will be given training and guidance regarding their roles and adjusted in the state unit.
As the party’s social media platforms are also supported with inputs generated by the research team, the selected people will also be part of media communication department handles, who will research and provide information for television outreach.
The talent hunt programme is also designed to focus on engaging people who are passionate about public service and have the required basic skills and expertise to help the party achieve its objectives. The party will do so by appointing regional coordinators in each region of Bihar and create WhatsApp groups to connect the respective groups with district presidents.
“This is not limited to the cadre or the party alone. There are many retired individuals who want to contribute to the country or the state, but no one approaches them," Asit Nath Tiwari, another spokesperson from Bihar said, "The purpose of this talent hunt is to reach out to such people directly. If they are willing to do something for the nation or the state, they should be given an opportunity."
State Congress president Rajesh Ram said, “A panel has been formed to search for eligible candidates for the posts. Entry is open to any individual who believes in the ideology of the party and connects with the common people. The selection will be transparent.”
The state president further said, “The programme will also involve the appointment of publicity volunteers in each district to help disseminate the party’s message and promote its activities. With this initiative, the Congress party is hoping to revamp its image and build a strong team of young and talented individuals.”
The Congress party has already launched the exercise in more than half a dozen states like Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Assam, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Bihar etc. and is looking forward to conduct the selection process in other states as well. Which will form the aggregate of 100 panellists and around 50 spokespersons at the national level. An AICC leader said, we are expecting to appoint around 150 people out of this at the national level, because the media landscape has become bigger and in order to be relevant, the party should have a battery of speakers who can be part of political discourse wherever possible.