NEW DELHI: Citizen reporter, fake news alert desk, state-wise dedicated control room and amplifying local issues nationally — the Congress social media department is gearing up ahead of assembly elections next year to take on the BJP virtually in the war of perception building.
It is looking to rope in common people to narrate the hardships they have faced due to the policies of central and respective state governments. “We launched a Covid Nyay Yatra in Gujarat where we shot 400 videos of family members of people who died due to Covid-19.
The state government has been hiding the exact number of people who died during the pandemic. This is an initiative to give voice to family members who lost their loved ones. These videos are amplified to present the real picture,” said Congress social media incharge Rohan Gupta.
Following discussion with state units, the party plans to train a dedicated team of volunteers who will hit the ground to connect with people and bring in their stories through videos. “The need was felt as the issues concerning people are not properly raised in the media. We thought to directly involve those affected as ‘Janta Ka Reporter’. We are looking to pick specific issues and amplify it based on facts and figures,” he added.
Plans are also afoot to set up a national fake news alert desk that will do fact-checking and amplify it with data and facts. For the polls, dedicated control rooms have been set up and workers are being mapped booth wise and connected through social media platforms for circulation of issues and collecting feedbacks.