Sitaram Yechury debuted on microblogging site Twitter much later than many of his political contemporaries. The general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) posted his first tweet on October 29, 2015. As the chief of a party that still commands a sizeable, albeit receding, cadre strength, Yechury has 11,600 followers on Twitter. Curiously, even a week ago he had only half as many followers. Of course, Yechury, too, has taken to the site with much more vigour after the arrest of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union President Kanhaiya Kumar on charges of sedition. The party's Twitter handle and website have also seen more traffic than usual in the last couple of days.
And more support for the right wing, too?
Read more from our special coverage on "JNU ROW"
- The many shades of Left and Right in JNU
- JNU row: MP Congress to hold Freedom from Sanghvad day on February 22
- Samajawadi leader: Kanhaiya did not say anything anti-national
- JNU row: Ex-ABVP member appeals to PM Modi to ensure security, respect to students
- JNU row: Delhi Police issues look-out notice for 3 youths
While the Leftists find themselves at the centre of the mainstream discourse after a long time, the Sangh Parivar is overjoyed at the groundswell of support it has received on the "nationalist" and "anti-nationalist" debate. The debate may have polarised India but the Sangh Parivar is convinced much of the support is for the "nationalist" forces. It plans to keep the pot simmering, with routine marches across India against those who support "anti-national" causes. The Sangh believes it has conveyed the message about the dangers to India if the designs of "anti-national" forces and those who support such causes were to succeed. It hopes the Bharatiya Janata Party will now receive more support in the coming Assembly polls in Kerala, Assam, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
