Congress Alleges Official Twitter Handles Of Party, Nearly A Dozen Leaders Locked

The Congress has alleged that Twitter has locked the party's official handle and the accounts of nearly half a dozen leaders.

This comes close on the heels of temporary suspension of Rahul Gandhi's Twitter account.

 The Twitter accounts of the party's media head Randeep Surjewala,  AICC general secretary and former minister Ajay Maken, party's whip in Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore, Assam in-charge and former Union minister Jitendra Singh and Mahila Congress president Sushmita Dev , social media head Rohan Gupta and Pranav Jha have been locked.

The accounts of Gaurav Pandhi and Saral Patel from Congress social media team have also been locked, besides the handles of Rahul Gandhi's aide KB Byju and the party spokesperson Abhishek Dutt. 

 "So! After Shri @RahulGandhi, the Lord @narendramodi Ji and Vassal @Jack & @twitter have locked @rssurjewala, @ajaymaken & @sushmitadevinc. @INCIndia registers its protest and promises to continue the fight for each and all being wronged! We shall hold on @AshwiniVaishnaw Ji," tweeted AICC secretary in-charge of party's Communication Department. 

 "The list goes on. @Twitter locks @JitendraSAlwar and @manickamtagore and many more. Doesn't Modi Ji understand that we @INCindia'ns have a legacy of fighting even from behind the locks of kaala paani," he asked in another tweet. 

 "He thinks the virtual locks of Twitter will deter us from fighting for India,"he asked. 

 The Congress has accused Twitter of acting against Gandhi's account under pressure from the government. 

 Gandhi had tweeted pictures with the family of a nine-year-old victim of alleged rape and murder in  Delhi last week. 

 The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) took cognisance of Gandhi's tweet and directed Twitter to act against the Congress leader's account for violating the privacy of a minor victim, mandated by the laws of the land.

(PTI inputs)