Panel to probe social media attack against Cong leaders in Kerala

The Kerala unit of the Congress on Wednesday said it had set up a committee to probe the social media attack against its senior leaders, including A K Antony, following the party's massive drubbing in the Lok Sabha election.

Former Union minister and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor will head the panel and file a report, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Mullapally Ramachandran told reporters here.

The Congress won only 52 seats nationally in the recently-concluded parliamentary polls and its leaders A K Antony and party general secretary in-charge of Karnataka K C Venugopal were criticised in the social media in Kerala for the drubbing.

A comprehensive probe into the social media attack against the leaders will be carried out by Tharoor, Ramachandran said.

If needed, an independent agency's help would also be sought to prepare a fact-finding report, he added.

"The attackers, by indulging in character assassination of senior leaders, crossed all limits of discipline," the KPCC chief said.

Another committee headed by K V Thomas will examine the poll defeat of Congress candidate Shanimol Usman against A M Ariff of the CPI(M) in Alappuzha, he said.

The three-member committee will also examine if anyone from the party had a role to play in Shanimol's defeat, Ramachandran added.

Kerala was the only state, besides Punjab and Tamil Nadu, where the Congress did well in the election. The grand old party and its allies won 19 of the 20 seats in the southern state.