Himachal Pradesh Congress will soon set up a hi-tech IT cell at its headquarters in Shimla to counter the BJP’s PM-in-waiting Narendra Modi’s hype in social networking sites in the wake of 2014-lok Sabha elections.
The IT cell will specifically focus on the social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and cross network mobile application Whatsapp. The cells will also be set up at district and block level to garner the support of first time voters and youth. “The future is now of social networking sites and like western countries, the future elections will be fought largely on virtual world,” said Congress spokesperson Naresh Chouhan. On Sunday, Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) organised a one-day workshop on social media at Rajiv Bhawan, Shimla.
The workshop was conducted as per the directions of AICC to spread awareness among party workers on the use and importance of social media platforms for the party in modern times. AICC representatives Gaurav Pandi, Zuber Patel, Hitendra Pitharia, who had came to train social media volunteers of Himachal Pradesh, highlighted the importance of various social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp.
HPCC chief Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu presided over the workshop and while addressing social media volunteers from the district and block level said that social media platforms as Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp plays an important role in spreading the message of the party in the society.
“The social media volunteers of the party should spread awareness about the ideology and policies of Congress and the Government through various social media platforms,” said Sukhu while adding that party workers should have a positive approach while working on these social media platforms. He added that party workers should work carefully on Facebook and Twitter and should not use abusive language towards anyone, while spreading the message of Congress in the society.
The BJP on other hand already has full-fledged IT cell in place and recently it also conducted a social networking site workshop for its workers at Mandi.
“The BJP has been largely engaged in high-profile propaganda through social networking sites and as per directions and vision of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, this IT cell will come up in place to counter the propaganda tactics of BJP and give a clear picture or view of party and government on any respective issue,” said Chouhan.