VIJAYAWADA: Nearly 200 like-minded people aged between 25 and 30 from across the State are on a mission to create political awareness among the public on fake news, copy-pasted hashtags, abusive language and bullying on social media platforms and other issues.
Through the WhatsApp group 'Andhra Veera Citizens' Forum', they are not conducting political discussions. They have decided to stay focused only on "issues that matter". Now, Andhra Veera is a busy group. Conversations are around topics like unemployment, policy issues and the infrastructure in the State.
The group admins take turns in scanning the content, as per a strong code of conduct. People raise issues from their constituencies and share pictures. Thereafter, a discussion takes place and the active members use their networks to make the pictures viral on social media so that it gets the attention of politicians and officials.
Explaining the need for such a forum, P Namitha, a B.Tech graduate and UPSC aspirant from Vijayawada, one of the admins of the group, said they were fed up with TV discussions on petty politics. She said that they have to work towards bringing the conversation on people's issues. "For better leaders, we have to unite and try to have debates on people's issues," she added.
The rules of engagement in the group are very strict. Elaborating, Anakapalli-based Arun Korukonda, another admin, said it is a bipartisan forum and it has members from all political backgrounds. "But the forum is apolitical," he said, adding that they do not entertain trolls and the very idea is to improve the standard of discourse.
A member of the group, Virupakshi Pratap from Tirupati said, "We would like to collaborate with young leaders who truly care about issues of the people. We are very careful about who we associate with because we do not want to get involved in the run-of-the-mill political games. Our focus is on solutions to people's issues, not blame-game and mudslinging. Fortunately,we have been able to reach out to a few politicians who can align with our objective."
The group is trying to reach out to more people. Soon, the group members plan to hold its first offline meeting. "The venue and theme of the meet are yet to be decided," says Pravin Kumar, a group member.