Congress falls back on social media after being 'blanked out'

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Ajay Maken, in charge of the Congress' communications, has of late been tweeting with a hashtag "Thnx #Twitter". Prefixing all his 140-character messages with this hashtag, he tweets, "As no channel is showing @INCIndia: Snapshots: Rahul Gandhi's public rally in Panki, #Jharkhand today."

Six months after its electoral debacle, the Congress has been compelled to use social media to get its message across to the people. Livid at the "poor coverage" of the Congress as an opposition party by television channels and newspapers, and the swamping of electronic channels by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress has been forced to recalibrate its communication strategy.

Things came to a head at the international conference to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru on November 17-18. The Congress was alarmed by the lack of coverage in leading television channels and newspapers despite the presence of international leaders at the two-day event. Television news channels were instead full of Modi's Australia visit.

An angry convener of the organising committee Anand Sharma accused the media at a press conference after the event of "blanking out the party". The opposition was not getting its space as required in a democracy, he said and urged the media to restore the balance and redeem its self-respect.

The Congress has since taken stock of the situation. At a recent meeting with party leader in charge of social media Deepinder Hooda, the Congress decided to use social media platforms to directly get its message across in the face of a "hostile media".

The seven shadow cabinet committees, which track respective ministries, have Twitter handles through which they post questions and critiques demanding accountability from the government. The @MEAIndiaShadow has been tweeting since morning on reports of 39 Indians kidnapped in Iraq allegedly being killed. "After six months the minister is saying that she can't deny and confirm if 39 Indians who were abducted are alive or not." Another tweet reads, "PM of country already claimed victory on this issue while campaigning for election in Maharashtra. His lie has been exposed."

Other Twitter handles shadowing the finance and human resources development ministries have latched on to every controversy. Realising its critique of the Bharatiya Janata Party government's six months in office did not make many newspaper headlines, the Congress has been incessantly tweeting factoids with the hashtag #6monthsof BJPUturns.

The party has hired a team of professionals to accelerate this venture, which insiders said was a major step considering the social media unit had gone quiet after the election defeat.

However, some party leaders feel the Congress should do more to connect with people than through social media. "Look at Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee. Finding herself cornered, like a true mass leader she hit the streets again. That is where the real connect happens. Being active on social media is good, but the Congress needs to do more to get back into newspaper headlines," a senior Congressman said.