Bengal Cong to scale up its presence on social media

For senior leaders of Congress in West Bengal public outreach has so far been limited to rallies, posters and processions. But now they are keen on utilising social media to reach out to the voters.

State Congress president Somen Mitra while speaking to DH said that they are in the process of setting up a dedicated social media team with an eye on the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

“No one can deny the impact of social media on the youth. We are setting up a social media team comprising of tech-savvy young party members to reach out to the people,” said Mitra. The 75-year-old veteran leader has also developed a keen interest in social media and has recently increased his activity on Facebook. He now has his own Facebook page and regularly posts his views to get feedback from people.

However, Mitra admitted that his party is bit late in catching on the trend. The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) has surged ahead in utilising social media for public outreach. For instance, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has 3 million followers on Twitter and is way ahead of CPM state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra who has about 32,000 followers.

“ Yes, we have started late but are confident of closing the gap with TMC soon,” said Mitra.

Senior Congress leader and MP Pradip Bhattacharya argued that even though social media has come up as a key medium of building public opinion among the youth but it can never replace the “man to man contact” in politics.

“ In politics nothing is better than reaching out to people in person. Social media can never replace it,” said Bhattacharya.

However, according to party sources, a section of senior leaders are still sceptical about the use of social media in politics and are apprehensive of their views getting “twisted and distorted” social media.

“The prevalence of fake news and misuse of social media have made these leaders apprehensive and they are still more comfortable with the old school ways of public outreach such as speeches and rallies,” said a senior state Congress leader.