Headlines
Social media attacks against Modi critics not directed by us: BJP IT Cell chief
By
Aparajita GuptaNew Delhi, Sep 1
The frenzied reactions of
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters on social media against anyone
strongly critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi or his policies are
not organised by the party, says the cyber czar of BJP.
Arvind
Gupta, BJP's IT cell chief, who is called an "innovation evangelist" by
his office, says his job is to give out correct information. "How a
particular person takes that information and communicates it is
completely his or her own take. We can't control that," Gupta said in an
interview to IANS.
Gupta, who was responding to a charge that
often BJP and RSS supporters attack people who oppose Modi or his
polices, at times in offensive language.
"Sometimes,
misinformation campaigns are run by opponents and we need to counter
that with correct information in real time. People have their own
passion and communications styles," Gupta said, adding that "it's not
possible to understand who is a member and who is not."
Gupta,
who holds a B.Tech in electronics engineering from IIT-BHU and a masters
in business & computer science from the University of Illinois at
Urbana Champaign in the US, says there are guidelines for the supporters
and members to follow on social media.
"We always ask them to
follow these," he said, adding: "The prime minister himself has asked
everyone to follow a certain etiquette. Ignore negativities, take
criticism positively and work with positive energy on social media," he
asserted.
The party, he stated, always communicated through official handles, spokespersons and office bearers.
Gupta,
who headed the digital and social media campaign for Modi during the
2014 elections, conceded that it was also difficult to control social
media.
The party has often come under criticism for allowing vicious verbal attacks on critics by its supporters.
The
BJP-led government has been on a social media overdrive since it
assumed power in May 2014 and Gupta says "Digital First" is now in BJP's
DNA as directed by Modi himself. Gupta has been looking at BJP's cyber
interests since 2010.
"Led by the prime minister, the thought is
not just to bring parity in information dissemination. It is also to
look at the overall parity so that citizens, media and everybody gets
information together." Gupta told IANS.
"It is digital democracy
as well. It makes information available to all in real time and in the
right manner. That's what we are seeing in our 'Digital India'
programme," he said, adding that the government, the Prime Minister's
Office and the party machinery are all in sync on this.
"It is
not any one person's job. Everybody is playing their role. It is a job
of the party to propagate the good policies of it to take it forward. It
is the job of the government to ensure every citizen, every stakeholder
gets the information," said Gupta, who has a team of about 20 people in
Delhi. Various units in the states help to move information on the
internet.
Gupta, who led the "Ab Ki Bar Modi Sarkar" campaign in
the run-up to the April-May 2014 general election, said the
transformational change in the past 15 months had also involved citizens
in decision-making. The logos for the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna and
Swachh Bharat were all crowd sourced from the MyGov platform, he said
as an example.
"The prime minister himself picks up messages from this platform."
He
said the change is spreading out fast. "Every event is getting
live-streamed. Many ministries in the last 15 months have come online
and started giving their updates in real time," he said. The railway
ministry, for example, is now taking complaints on its Twitter handle.
"This is something unique in this part of the world. This is the change in the DNA."
Speaking
about the MyGov.in platform, which was made to build a partnership
between citizens and the government, he said it has multifarious roles
to play. "We will try to reach out to as many more people as possible.
There is a big emphasis on villages and semi-urban areas."
On the
interactive role that the BJP seeks through social media, Gupta said
while some feedback was meaningful, sometimes it was not. "But even a
small comment needs to be understood whether people are writing it in
the correct spirit. Good feedback or criticism, both are welcome," he
said.
(Aparajita Gupta can be reached at [email protected])