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Congress sets up war room to counter fake news during Maharashtra assembly polls
The war room was inaugurated by senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who called it the need of the hour, considering the role of the social media in campaigning.
The Congress has set up a war room at its headquarters in Parel to counter the alleged fake news being spread during campaigning for the Assembly elections.
The war room was inaugurated by senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who called it the need of the hour, considering the role of the social media in campaigning.
“We saw how false news was spread using social media during the Lok Sabha elections and how the accounts disappeared after the polls. We will ensure such false news is countered and the electorate gets the real picture. In addition, we will also have legal experts who will coordinate with the candidates and guide them on legal issues,” he said.
The Congress war room is headed by party leader Avinash Pande and has 300 volunteers. Apart from the central war room, there would be also IT cells at division level.
The war room will guide candidates on various rules as well as help them in booth management.
Congress leaders namely former minister Suresh Shetty and spokesperson Sachin Sawant will play an important role in the process, said a functionary.
Kharge said the team will spread the ideology of the Congress “expose the misrule of the BJP-Shiv Sena government”.
Kharge taunts Sanjay Nirupam
Kharge taunted former Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam who has been critical of the party for ignoring leaders like him in the Assembly elections.
“I don’t comment on big leaders (like Nirupam) as I am very small worker of the Congress,” said Kharge. Nirupam was irked at being kept out of the election process. In his recent statement Nirupam announced he will not campaign for the party candidates in the Assembly election.
