Chennai: Hours after the Lok Sabha election results were out, — the X handle of the Congress’s Kerala unit — Wednesday posted an old image of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav sitting together.
The caption read, “Don’t panic Modiji, it’s an old pic.” The post since then has been retweeted 8,600 times, attracting 89,000 likes and 14,000 comments. It’s not the only such post.
INC’s Kerala handle, which had been getting traction from all over India for its style, humour and relevance much ahead of the polls, seems to be on a roll since the announcement of the poll results.
The handle has been posting multiple memes and videos, all targeting the performance of the BJP and Prime Minister Modi.
Don’t panic Modiji, it’s an old pic. pic.twitter.com/uJ7ltkgXFA
— Congress Kerala (@INCKerala) June 5, 2024
One such post carried a video grab from a 1992 Malayalam movie, Vietnam Colony. In the video grab, the character of K.K. Joseph, played by actor Innocent and marked as Modi, attempts to cross a Rangoli marked 400 seats. He fails and tumbles down the stairs. The caption read, “That descent was quite steep — from heaven to earth!”
That descent was quite steep — from heaven to earth! pic.twitter.com/5O6yzJFYfY
— Congress Kerala (@INCKerala) June 4, 2024
On Thursday, the account, which posts memes and multiple analyses in thread formats, crossed 1,05,000 followers.
“It’s a huge milestone for us,” says Vijay Thottathil, an IT professional in Dubai, who is a member of the nine-member team behind the handle. Apart from the Kozhikode native, the team has six other volunteers, all Malayalis settled in different parts of the globe, who spend some dedicated time coming up with the content.
The team’s convener is Kerala Youth Congress Secretary Sarin P., and former Congress MP V.T. Balram is the chairman.
Vijay said the team’s primary goal is to focus on issues concerning commoners, who the BJP is not bothering about. He said the team wanted to stick to the matters of national importance and bust the lies and larger-than-life image of Modi created by the BJP.
The handle focussed less on highlighting the ideologies and messages of the Congress, he added, since the INCIndia handle was already doing it.
“Platform X was becoming a forum to spread whatever BJP’s IT cell was coming up with. It was one-sided, and that was not helping the users to make an informed decision,” said Sarin.
According to Vijay, the handle had 50,000 followers in March 2023.
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Drawing out responses from BJP ministers
The team knew its aim and audience. According to Sarin, it primarily did three things — dig up fact-oriented details to bust myths, make comparative analyses, and maintain wit in all posts.
The attempt was successful, too. Apart from the traction it garnered for being witty, the handle’s posts also forced many BJP ministers to respond.
In May 2024, the handle posted the ridership data of the Vande Bharat trains, comparing it with other trains. The data, sourced from the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, showed that over 50 percent of the Vande Bharat trains operate with empty or partially filled seats, even though tickets for almost all other trains on the same routes sell out quickly, raising questions about pricing.
The team posted multiple tweets seeking answers from the Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who posted from his X handle 9 May, “Its time to prick the bubble of Congress lies. Occupancy of Vande Bharat trains on 7th May is 98%. Occupancy in FY 2024-25 (till 7th May) is 103%. Does Congress want Vande Bharat to stop?”
The row didn’t stop there. While thanking the minister for responding, the team said that his data lacked context and clarity and asked him to release the details.
The others who have responded to the handle’s posts include BJP leaders Subramanian Swamy and Amit Malviya.
“They started thinking that INCKerala was doing a lot of damage to them. We forced them to respond,” said Vijay, adding that 50-100 published news articles cited the handle in the last couple of months.
According to Sarin, the handle was able to change the perception the public had about Congress.
“Twitter can’t influence national politics. But it created a perception, especially among people who are the so-called educated ones. BJP understood that and exploited it. Many thought the Congress was far behind the BJP in this or it couldn’t do it. But now people are thinking differently,” said Sarin, adding that the team showed the people what Congress’s politics was when many thought it was just dynasty politics.
He said the handle’s name, INCKerala, never limited its reach but only boosted its authenticity while talking about national politics.
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‘Maharashtra & Haryana elections next target’
Vijay said the team doesn’t spend time in extensive brainstorming sessions before posting content. The team members, residing in different parts of the world, remain connected through a WhatsApp Group for coordination and discussion. Three of the members, Vijay, Ranjith, and Subash, are in charge of the content — the idea and the creation are done at the individual level in most cases. Also, since two members are Bangalore residents, the team picks issues related to the city, including the traffic.
“The strength of the INCKerala team is that we are a bunch of people who don’t have egos. Of the three, if two decide that the post is not good or can lead to controversy, we will not do it. So, the majority plays a role there,” Vijay said.
While the Congress launched the INCKerala handle nearly 10 years ago, the team underwent a revamp after Sarin became its convener in March 2023.
“I gave them a free hand. We didn’t want to appease anyone. If something needs to be said bluntly, we say it. We regularly up the ante, as well,” Sarin said, adding that the team is planning to expand in the future by diversifying the content and team members.
“Our target is the Maharashtra election and Haryana election. We have other targets, too. We will do whatever is required for the survival of the (Congress) party in the nation,” Sarin said.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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