Congress to enrol five lakh 'social media warriors'

Seeking to amplify its voice in the virtual sphere and come up with a strong counter to the BJP's dominance in the online arena, the Congress on Monday launched a social media campaign as part of which it will aim at enrolling five lakh 'social media warriors'.

The campaign, titled 'Save Democracy, Save India – Join Congress Social Media', will involve bringing in supporters of the party to add their voice to the party's social media campaign as also pitch in by giving in their inputs on the issues that can be taken up.

The launch of the campaign was accompanied with a message from former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who said this will not be an army of hatred or violence, but an army of truth that will defend the idea of India.

The campaign to enrol 'social media warriors' will be run for one month, starting with press conferences that will be held in various states on Tuesday. Those who are interested can register themselves by either calling on a toll free number 1800120000044, sending a message on WhatsApp number 7574000525, logging in to www.incsmw.in or www.incsmwarriors.com, or by sending an email at smw@inc.in.

Interviews will be held to screen the applicants and also learn from them how much time they can devote to the party's social media initiatives and which platform they want to be on. They will then be assigned tasks at the district, state or national level, depending on the amount of time they can devote. They will also be imparted training by the party.

“These warriors will be the protectors of the idea of India. The campaign will provide the supporters of the party with an authentic platform to voice their views on current developments and on ideological matters,” said Pawan Kumar Bansal, AICC in-charge of organisation and the office of the treasurer.

“We have to counter the atmosphere of fear created by the present government. In the last seven years, the government has tried to suppress the voice of the people. Twitter has been asked to shut down accounts. Whoever criticises the government is termed anti-national,” said Rohan Gupta, head of the Congress' social media department.

He said the idea of the campaign is to counter trolls, not allow a wrong narrative to be built and counter fake news. The ideology to be espoused will be that of the Congress, he said, adding that the aggression will be three times that of the BJP.

Meanwhile, speaking in the context of the Narendra Modi government allegedly suppressing the voice of the opposition, party leader Pranav Jha revealed that the party's senior Rajya Sabha member, Mallikarjun Kharge had on Monday received a threatening phone call after his press conference on the prime minister's reply to the motion of thanks on the Presidential address.

Jha said the caller threatened Kharge, used abusive language against him, and asked him why he criticised the government and the prime minister. Kharge is learnt to have filed a police complaint in the matter.

“I mentioned this incident to emphasise the importance of countering the government's campaign against the opposition. Where are these anti-social elements gaining strength from?” he said.