Kannada Actor Ramya New Face of @INCIndia to Take on @narendramodi

New Delhi: The official Twitter handle of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday posted a plan of action, SAMADHAN, for dealing with Naxals in the country. This was in line with Narendra Modi-led government’s fascination for catchy acronyms and abbreviations to demystify policy for masses.

Soon after SAMADHAN was made public, the official handle of Indian National Congress launched a full-frontal attack on the BJP government. According to @INCIndia, SAMADHAN means:

S stood for Sukma violence,

A for armed forces martyred,

M for Modi taking selfies,

A clueless government,

Distracted

Hopeless

Arrogant BJP

No help given to soldiers

The smart, confident and aggressive voice of the grand old party’s Twitter handle brought it to the spotlight, something that was noticed even by ‘apolitical’ netizens. This was in stark contrast to the slow and lackluster response that @INCIndia was known for in the fastest finger first world of Twitter and Facebook.

According to sources, the person behind this quick transformation is Kannada actor turned politician Ramya, who herself is famous for sharp opinions of social and political developments.

Armed with an undeterred approach to hit out at the government, Ramya, who goes by the handle @divyaspandana, has replaced Deepender Hooda as the social media head of Congress.

“We have a bright young team, but the leadership was lackadaisical. These days, wars are fought on social media primarily, rather than through ballots,” a senior Congress leader told News18.

Ramya’s appointment comes in the wake of her home state, Karnataka, going to polls early next year. The poor performance of the social media team under Hooda at the helm was, according to sources, another reason for his removal.

Congress’s social media performance has gotten better than earlier, but there is still is a long way to go. Hooda could not have done it. He tweeted erratically, led a young team with absolutely no direction. We needed someone bright, young and fiery,” said a party source.

Another issue that many from the Congress said was the diktat by party vice-president Rahul Gandhi to ‘not to be abusive on Twitter’. A member of Congress social media team said Hooda often confused aggressions and abuse as the same thing. “We don’t want to stoop to the level of the ‘bhakts’. But then, there are things that need to be done in a certain way on social media… either you are aggressive or you are not part of the conversation,” he said.

Ramya, Congress leaders say, understands how social media works and can do a balancing act between remaining relevant and not being abusive. The young politician, who made to headlines for ‘respectfully saying that Pakistan is not hell’, has been critical of the government and its schemes, in a “unique” way.

The kind of intel machinery that was used in ‘Snoopgate’ when Modiji was CM could not be put in place to protect our CRPF jawans? Priorities!” she had tweeted after the Sukma attack in April.

Ramya has reportedly called for an overhaul in the existing team. That, sources said, has not gone well with ‘veterans’ in the team. But the party is desperate to connect with the youngsters and Ramya seems to have mandate from the top. It remains to be seen how the old guard in the party responds to this young leader.