Amit Shah slams Assam's social media team
Guwahati, June 25 : BJP President Amit Shah has slammed the party's social media team in Assam for not being aggressive ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, a party leader said on Monday.
Shah, who reviewed the Lok Sabha election preparations in Assam and other northeastern states during his recent visit to the state, asked the team and other party members to be more active on social media to reach out to maximum number of electorate and attract young voters.
"He held a separate meeting with the social media team of the Assam unit. A total of 82 members of the team participated. Shah expressed concern over the fact that most of the party leaders in Assam were not active at all on social media except Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma," the Bharatiya Janata Party leader said.
While Sonowal has more than 7 lakh followers on Facebook and Twitter, Sarma has over 6 lakh followers on social media. But Assam BJP President Ranjit Kumar Das has only some 40,000 followers.
"Amit Shah has asked the social media team to develop content which can be shared for better communication with people. However, he advised to be very cautious regarding selection of content and strictly ordered to avoid sensitive issues."
The BJP, which rules Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Manipur and is allied to ruling parties in Meghalaya and Nagaland, is targeting to win at least 21 of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in the eight northeastern states next year.
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Kharge likens BJP and RSS to poison; says 'poisonous snake should be killed'
Pune, Nov 17: Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday likened the BJP and RSS to "poison" and termed them as "politically most dangerous" in India.
Addressing a rally in Sangli on the penultimate day before the campaigning for the Maharashtra assembly polls concluded, Kharge used the "killing the poisonous snake" analogy in his speech.
"If there is anything which is politically the most dangerous in India is the BJP and RSS. They are like poison. If a snake bites, the person (who is bitten) dies...such a poisonous snake should be killed," said Kharge.
He targeted Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over the death of 10 newborns in a fire at a medical college.
Without naming Vishal Patil, the Congress rebel and Independent MP from Sangli, Kharge accused him of betraying the party and supporting his sister-in-law, who is contesting as an Independent nominee in the November 20 assembly elections.
In a dig at BJP, Kharge said the number of leaders who campaigned in Maharashtra polls outnumbered the number of candidates of the saffron party in the fray.
"The Prime Minister, Home Minister (Amit Shah) and other leaders have come here. Today, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath was also here. No idea what happened to him. In UP, in a fire at a hospital in Jhansi, 10 kids died. Despite that, his rallies in Maharashtra didn't stop," the Congress president said.
Kharge took potshots at PM Narendra Modi for holding rallies for state-level elections.
This is an election for assembly and not to elect the prime minister of the country, he said, adding that his (Modi's) "thirst for authority" is unsatiated.
He slammed Modi for not visiting strife-torn Manipur and instead travelling abroad.
"Modi was here till yesterday. Today he is abroad. Manipur is burning, people are dying, adivasi women are disrespected, and women are raped but Modi never visited Manipur. He is on foreign tours. Today he is also visiting a country. I want to tell him first to look after your home. Make the country strong first. You can go anywhere later," Kharge added.
He questioned the output of Modi's meetings with Donald Trump, Pakistan's prime minister, and presidents of Russia and China from India's perspective.
The 83-year-old leader said his age didn't stop him from supporting the Congress' ideology and meeting people.
"There are leaders who were given positions by the party and benefited. We are not criticising anyone but if the Congress party is giving you everything, you should not betray it," said Kharge in an apparent dig at Vishal Patil.
Kharge said the Congress didn't want any rift in the family of (former chief minister) late Vasantdada Patil, who hailed from Sangli.
"I was told that the Lok Sabha MP from Sangli (Vishal Patil) won with the support of Congress party and Congress party has re-inducted him with respect," he said.
Kharge said he respects the woman candidate who is contesting as an Independent because of her association with Congress.
"I had promised and told Ramesh Chennithala (Maharashtra Congress incharge) that we will offer whatever she wants after the elections. We sent Chennithala and KC Venugopal to talk to them as we did not want any rift in Vasantdada Patil's house and Sangli," he added.
Kharge said his assurances, however, didn't work.
Jayashree Patil, from former chief minister Vasantdada Patil’s family, has entered the fray as an independent candidate from Sangli against Congress nominee Prithviraj Patil.
"It is difficult to wake up those people who are pretending to sleep," Kharge added.
