Mainstream media blacking out Cong, party using social network to connect with people: Shrinate
Guwahati (PTI): Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate claimed that social media has helped her party to connect with people as mainstream media is "blacking out" the grand old party.
Respecting India's diversity, the party has been creating content in as many regional languages as possible, said Shrinate who heads the Congress social media and digital platforms cell.
She claimed that her party has 'far higher' engagement rates as compared to its competitor the BJP.
"Engagement rates on social media for Congress vis-a-vis our main competitor BJP are far higher. Our reach is far higher despite the fact that our actual followers are still lower than BJP," Shrinate, said in an interview with PTI here.
The fact that "mainstream media chooses to ignore us but people still know us, what we are doing works in Congress' favour", she added.
On how the Congress is utilising social media to reach out to the masses, she said, "The strategy is simple. We mirror exactly what we do on the ground. I don't think social media and politics are two divorced things, they are complimentary to each other."
She said Congress's social media strategy is based broadly on four points "to come out with only the truth and not indulge in fake news, to be fast in reaching out, to keep the narrative decent and related to the issues on the ground, and create the content depending on the platform and audience, with videos taking a priority."
Issues are chosen as per the region as relevance varies from place to place, with the party focussing on creating content in as many regional languages as possible, Shrinate claimed.
"We try and do a lot of stuff in vernacular languages. It comes from our deep appreciation of India's diversity," she said, adding "The essence here is that we represent the values we stand for and that we don't believe in imperialism of language or thought," Shrinate added.
"Our leadership has a lot of visibility across social media, he (Rahul Gandhi) understands social media well, he speaks to them (people), he does a video from the car and this is relatable these are advantageous for us," Shrinate maintained.
On trolls used to discredit rival parties and leaders, she said, "Trolls are a menace. I wish our polity was mature, our political discourse was mature."
Shrinate maintained that when taking over her responsibilities in the party's social media cell, she had decided to keep it a place for 'meaningful engagement and has held on to her end of the bargain'.
The Congress spokesperson alleged that the BJP has weaponised fake news and uses social media to push propaganda.
Conceding that BJP had a 'first mover advantage' on using social media, she said, "But they have weaponised fake news, misinformation, used it to assassinate people's reputation, to distort truth, push propaganda."
Shrinate maintained that the Congress made a conscious choice of not indulging in such activities on social media and has been rather using it to reach more people.
The BJP, however, has indulged in offensive caricatures and videos, peddling half truths and full lies, and offensive posts, especially against women, she alleged.
"Constant threats on me are not about how they may want to shut down my operations or dispute an argument I am making. It is always sexual, name-calling, threatening my family, my daughter," the journalist-turned-politician claimed.
Shrinate also stressed on role of social media platform owners in controlling trolls and misuse of their forums.
Citing her own experience of being criticised for posts on parody accounts in her name, the Congress leader said, "Social media owners also need to step in. I had two parody accounts shut down. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and all platforms have to be more proactive in acting upon complaints."
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Allu Arjun didn't leave theatre despite being told about woman's death: Hyderabad police
Hyderabad, Dec 22: Top Telugu actor Allu Arjun did not leave the theatre during the screening of 'Pushpa-2' on December 4 despite being told to do so in view of a stampede in which a woman died, police officials claimed on on Sunday.
Speaking at a press conference on the annual round-up of 2024, city police commissioner C V Anand showed a video, made by police, on the situation that prevailed when the stampede occurred.
The video was made by collating footage, including from news channels and cell phone clips. It suggests the actor remained in the theatre till the midnight.
Anand did not make any comment on the video, but said the media can draw its own conclusions.
A police official talked about the sequence of events on the fateful night of December 4.
He said that he and other police officials informed a manager of Allu Arjun about the death of the woman and told him that the situation was out of control. He indicated that they were not allowed to meet the actor.
Allu Arjun's staff members told them that they would convey the matter to the actor but did not do so, he said.
The official said he later managed to reach the actor, told him about the woman's death and asked him to leave the theatre so that the fans don't harm each other while trying to catch a glimpse of him.
The official also told the actor that security arrangements would be made for his exit.
However, the actor said he would go only after watching the film, the police official said.
Later, accompanied by a senior officer, the official went inside and brought the actor out, he said.
Amid allegations that bouncers hired by Allu Arjun pushed crowds as well as policemen when the stampede occurred at the cinema hall, the police commissioner warned that stringent action as per law would be taken if THE bouncers indeed misbehaved with the police on duty.
The VIPs would be made responsible for the behaviour of the bouncers hired by them, he said.
Asked if the police would appeal against the interim bail granted to Allu Arjun, the commissioner refused to give a direct response, just saying it is part of the investigation.
What course of action is taken would be known in the days to come, he said.
He also declined to comment when asked if the family of the deceased told him about Allu Arjun's team or film production team allegedly threatening them not to speak on the issue.
Meanwhile, state Cinematography Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy found fault with Allu Arjun responding on Saturday to the debate in the Legislative Assembly.
The minister, who observed that the actor should have respect for the government and the chief minister, demanded an apology from Allu Arjun to the government and the CM.
"This government is never vindictive. As Cinematography Minister, we allowed benefit shows and hiking ticket prices to promote the film industry," he said.
However, Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar found fault with CM Revanth Reddy for his comments on Allu Arjun in the Assembly on Saturday.
The comments of the CM sounded like character assassination of Allu Arjun and hurting the Telugu film industry, he alleged in a statement.
Later in the day, Sanjay Kumar visited a boy who is undergoing treatment in a hospital after being injured in the stampede.
"Consoled his father over the heartbreaking loss of his wife, Revathi. I pray to god that Sritej recovers at the earliest. Assured support to the family in this difficult time," Kumar said on X.
Earlier in the day, state DGP Jitender told reporters in Karimnagar district that film personalities and all others should understand that safety and security of citizens is utmost important, and also conduct themselves accordingly.
