Social media today is witnessing a lot of debate between India’s two major political parties – the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Often, this leads to confusion due to careless comments from politicians, prompting Congress to take a step back.
As reported by India Today, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has instructed party leaders not to make any statements without clearance from two coordinators, and they must do so 24 hours in advance before sharing with the media. This means all Congress leaders must seek approval from coordinators Deepak Amin and SV Ramani. Those who violate this new rule will face consequences.
The new rules come at a time when the Gandhi scion had recently emphasized to party spokespersons to “speak positive” as national elections draw closer. He stated this while inaugurating a Congress media conclave being held recently in Delhi. The two day workshop saw around 200 delegates attending it.
The same event saw speakers like Union Minister Shashi Tharoor and Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari who provided tips and emphasized that due care should be taken while using Twitter.
Congress party has been late in the game but of late they are getting the medium quite right. These measures would provide breaks to the regular controversies that are happening over social media.
Recently the party was in an embarrassing situation after former Minister of State Govt of India for Home, Communication and Information Technology and present General Secretary for the Congress, Shakeel Ahmad tweeted what the NIA had stated in its charge sheet – that the terror outfit Indian Mujahideen was formed after the Gujarat riots.
The tweet that was directed to the BJP and Narendra Modi’s camp was picked up by the media and made headlines. The issue trended on Twitter and BJP again got a chance to play with the reputation of Congress online.
However, I’m not sure if these new rules apply to senior leaders like Digvijaya Singh, who not only has a big mouth on all mediums but even supported Shakeel Ahmad’s controversial tweet.
Image courtesy: telegraph.co.uk