New Delhi, Feb 8 The Congress on Monday launched a 'Join Congress Social Media' campaign with an aim to have five lakh online 'warriors' who will work to save the 'idea of India'.
Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi issued a video statement for the social media campaign and said that it will counter hate and "defend the idea of India".
In his video message, Rahul Gandhi said, "Nothing is hidden from you. In your schools, colleges and universities, you can see the oppression, you can see the attack on the idea of India."
"Look outside Delhi and you can see what is happening with the farmers. The backbone of this war of the nation is a troll army. Thousands of people spread hatred and anger and they are paid to do so. We also need warriors to defend the ideas of liberal values, to defend the ideas of compassion, peace, harmony and affection.
"Come join this army. This is not an army of hatred and this is not an army of violence. This is the army of truth and that is going to defend the idea of India. We are bringing this platform for you to give you the tools to fight back and win," he added.
While launching the campaign at the party headquarters here, Congress' social media unit head Rohan Gupta, party spokesperson Pawan Khera, and AICC in-charge (administration) Pawan Kumar Bansal said the aim is to have five lakh social media warriors.
Bansal said, "We are launching this social media campaign wherein we aim to have five lakh warriors. In every part of the country, several Congress leaders and workers keep working for the party through social media. We are calling them social media 'warriors'."
Gupta also addressed the media and said that the Narendra Modi-led government is scared of social media and "we are giving a platform to the youth to raise their voice".
"We all know that the government is scared of social media. Now the government writes to Twitter to ban certain accounts. Those who are against the government are anti-nationals. Through this, we are going to give the youth and the people of the country a platform to raise their voice.
"If we want to defeat this arrogant government, we will have to fight unitedly. That is the reason why we are starting this campaign which has been named 'Join Congress Social Media Campaign'," Gupta said.
He said that people can join the campaign through website, toll-free number or by WhatsApp.
Gupta said the party will take this campaign to the people for a month and invite them to join. Then there will be a basic interview in all states and "we will give responsibilities accordingly".
He said that people can work at different levels district, state and national and they will be given responsibilities accordingly.
After a month of interviews, those who do well will be given training, Gupta added.
"When the BJP came to power in 2014, many criticised the Congress for not being on social media, and when the party became active on social media, many said it is not on the ground, but now we are on both," said Khera.
( With inputs from IANS )
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