For Assembly poll, Congress takes to Twitter, Facebook

Vishal Joshi

As the Assembly elections in Haryana are approaching, the Congress party is preparing itself to take on the BJP government even in the virtual world. 

The Haryana Congress has opened verified handles of party leaders on social media for better public outreach. A random study of the social media platforms reveals that no other political party has such an organised activity at the district level.

Pankaj Kharbanda, chairperson of the Information Technology (IT) cell of the HPCC, says that Haryana is the first state where the district units of the party have started Twitter and Facebook (FB) pages with a ‘blue tick’.

“In the first step, we have got verified the Twitter handles of Sirsa, Kurukshetra, Karnal and Panchkula units of the party. Teams in other districts will also get ‘blue tick’ handles soon. Also, we will launch verified Facebook pages where the Congress leaders will use social media to audit the working of the political dispensation,” says Kharbanda.

He says the Congress legislators and former MLAs will also get their Twitter handles and Facebook accounts verified.

HPCC president Ashok Tanwar says that he is working in close coordination with Khanbanda to empower the IT divisions of the Congress at the district level. “The Congress leadership is in an upbeat mood after winning the Assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The network of the social media teams at the district level is being strengthened to showcase our progressive vision and the dismal functioning of the ruling BJP,” says Tanwar. 

Kharbanda says, “We have chalked out a political strategy where the working of the state government will be discussed at the district level. It will be more result-oriented, as chinks in the government schemes can be put before people in a better way by the ground teams”. 

“From this month, our team of IT experts will start sensitising and training the party MLAs and other leaders at the district level,” he adds.

The party will use verified accounts in the political battle in the virtual world. Kharbanda says it is important to have an official platform to take on political rivals. “Any criticism of government policies or opponents will come from an official page. It is seen that damaging content from fake accounts appears on social media platforms. The messages and opinions of the Congress will have a better connect and impact on the masses,” he says.