Aggressive Twitter, Facebook fans stump BJP with googlies

BENGALURU: It was to be occasion for the BJP to powwow with its online sympathizers: the Twitterati, Facebook followers and social media set. But party leaders were left literally fumbling for words, as a barrage of uncomfortable questions caught them off-guard. Questions from Twitter users, a majority of them youngsters, ranged from "Is Modi sleeping or pretending to sleep when his government is OKing GM crops?" to "Why has the party failed to come up with an effective counter to the Congress charge that it's a U-turn sarkar?" To the last question, BJP spokesperson S Suresh Kumar had two answers: one, the BJP did not counter-attack because of the ongoing Parliament session, and two, the general-secretary at Delhi had put up an attack. Both answers were feeble, and failed to convince the young crowd at the interaction, held at RV Teachers' College on Sunday. Both Suresh Kumar and his counterpart CT Ravi valiantly fobbed off the volley of questions on governance and the party at the national level. GenZ shouted back their demand: the party should be more aggressive on social media. Sharing his experience on a train journey in September, Anand Vajpayee, a senior citizen, pointed out that former railway minister DV Sadananda Gowda had failed to reply to his tweet on the stink in his two-tier AC compartment and toilet. "Though he (Gowda) is active on twitter, he didn't reply. What's the use of having a twitter handle when he doesn't respond?" he questioned. Kumar didn't have a convincing answer. Saurav, from Bihar, who claims he posts 300 tweets a day and is an ardent follower of the BJP, complained that the party was not articulate in tweeting and wasn't utilizing the proper channel. All Kumar could say was the party would improve its interactions in future. Another youth suggested the party shouldn't use social media only for publicity, rather it should be a bridge between the party and people. Two youths said they had taken up an online campaign to pressure the Centre to amend child custody laws which are heavily tilted to favour the mother. "Just as there's a ministry for the welfare of animals, women and children, the Narendra Modi government should create a separate ministry for the welfare of men. There are lakhs of men facing a problem meeting their children after divorce," one of them said. Kumar replied that he would speak to Union law minister DV Sadananda Gowda. During his inaugural address, Kumar attacked chief minister Siddaramaiah, accusing him and his government of being in deep slumber and called upon the crowd to use social media to free Karnataka from the Congress. Ravi used the opportunity to launch his website. -TOI