JOIN USActor-politician Ramya Divya Spandana has been given the charge of the Congress’ social media campaign, replacing Deepender Hooda, who is expected to be given organisational responsibility.
The key task comes after a buzz about the former Lok Sabha member from Mandya being unhappy in the Congress and mulling over hanging up her boots.
Ramya had vehemently rejected as speculation reports that emerged shortly after senior Congress leader S M Krishna crossed over to the BJP.
Congress sources that said as part of the ongoing organisational restructuring, the social media team was being recast and Ramya had already started working. Sources said she had a role in putting out tweets from the Twitter handle of Rahul Gandhi, the party’s vice president.
The All India Congress Committee’s (AICC) social media team is not a formal department under the organisation but is run by tech-savvy young leaders of the party.
The Congress has been a laggard in using social media to get its political message across and has embraced the medium only after its rout in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Besides Rahul’s Twitter handle @officeofRG, the social media team also operates the party’s official presence on micro-blogging sites. Congress' digital warriors also keep a close eye on several government departments through shadow Twitter handles.
The @ShadowAgriGoI twitter handle of the Congress aims to hold the government accountable through constructive criticism. Over the past few days it highlighted cases of agrarian distress from across the country, the demand for farm loan waiver and farmers being benefited by Centre's initiatives to link wholesale markets.