Rahul Gandhi's Twitter outreach has played a key role in changing perceptions about him, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has said urging the party chief to maintain his "unique communication" with the people and to ignore "trolls and troglodytes".
Tharoor, who was recently edged out by Gandhi as the most-followed Congress leader on Twitter, also said social media could prove to be a "game influencer" in 2019.
In an interview to PTI, he said the Congress's counter-narrative to the BJP on social media was "witty, eye-catching and trendsetting".
"Even the BJP would do well to now try and take a leaf or two" out of the Congress's book, the former Union minister said, while also stressing his party did not seek to define itself on social media in metrics comparable to the BJP.
Asked if the microblogging site played a key role in helping people get to know the Congress president and changing his image from a reluctant politician to a dedicated leader, the MP from Thiruvananthapuram said, "Yes, very much so."
Asked if the battle for 2019 polls would be fought online between parties, he said, "I think it (social media) can be a game influencer, but I wouldn't go beyond that at this stage and concede that it will be the 'real' battleground for 2019...You need various ways of reaching out to the electorate, and social media happens to offer an additional way, not a substitute for any of the traditional means of campaigning."
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