<p>The DK Shivakumar-led Congress wants to take the fight to the BJP on the social media turf, but only a fraction of legislators are active on various online platforms. </p>.<p>“Only 20 out of 68 Congress MLAs are on social media and only their works are getting projected,” Shivakumar, the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, told DH.</p>.<p>“So I’m saying, all those MLAs who are doing well need to be projected. We want leaders, not mere followers. I want to sell them and not just my face or Siddaramaiah’s,” he said. </p>.<p>Shivakumar’s diktat has resulted in the party’s social media unit scrambling to get leaders to create their accounts. “We’re pressuring them. We’re asking their personal assistants or gunmen to operate their accounts if they are not savvy with social media,” KPCC social media chief A N Nataraj Gowda said. </p>.<p>He pointed out that the 20 MLAs who are active on social media include Dinesh Gundu Rao, Priyank Kharge, Krishna Byre Gowda, U T Khader among others. “We’re also trying to get the accounts verified of those who are beginning to get active. For example, it was only recently that we got the accounts of S R Patil and Vijay Singh verified,” Gowda said. </p>.<p>Tapping the full potential of social media is crucial for the Congress because the BJP has found much success in reaching out to voters through various online platforms.</p>.<p>In fact, ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections, the Congress found that there were 10 ministers and some 40 MLAs who had turned a blind eye towards social media. </p>.<p>Shivakumar said he was also working on putting in place a system in the party under which all developments related to the state and country will be communicated to all party leaders at 10 am every day.</p>
<p>The DK Shivakumar-led Congress wants to take the fight to the BJP on the social media turf, but only a fraction of legislators are active on various online platforms. </p>.<p>“Only 20 out of 68 Congress MLAs are on social media and only their works are getting projected,” Shivakumar, the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, told DH.</p>.<p>“So I’m saying, all those MLAs who are doing well need to be projected. We want leaders, not mere followers. I want to sell them and not just my face or Siddaramaiah’s,” he said. </p>.<p>Shivakumar’s diktat has resulted in the party’s social media unit scrambling to get leaders to create their accounts. “We’re pressuring them. We’re asking their personal assistants or gunmen to operate their accounts if they are not savvy with social media,” KPCC social media chief A N Nataraj Gowda said. </p>.<p>He pointed out that the 20 MLAs who are active on social media include Dinesh Gundu Rao, Priyank Kharge, Krishna Byre Gowda, U T Khader among others. “We’re also trying to get the accounts verified of those who are beginning to get active. For example, it was only recently that we got the accounts of S R Patil and Vijay Singh verified,” Gowda said. </p>.<p>Tapping the full potential of social media is crucial for the Congress because the BJP has found much success in reaching out to voters through various online platforms.</p>.<p>In fact, ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections, the Congress found that there were 10 ministers and some 40 MLAs who had turned a blind eye towards social media. </p>.<p>Shivakumar said he was also working on putting in place a system in the party under which all developments related to the state and country will be communicated to all party leaders at 10 am every day.</p>
