No Likes Yet
Nothing boosts visibility more than social media buzz, but there are pitfalls too. Take the UP Congress, which recently appointed an experienced but “IT-illiterate” state leader as its IT cell head. Now, the man, who apparently cannot type in Hindi or English, has to ask youngsters in his family to tweet on his behalf. When people grumbled about his appointment—the post is highly coveted—his feelings were hurt. He complained to leaders in Delhi about the secular edifice being under threat. He was asked to ignore it and carry on. And if possible, to pick up some social media nuances on the job.
Minds Apart
Four months after the merger of the EPS and OPS factions of the AIADMK, differences and heartburns continue to simmer. Rajya Sabha MP V. Maithreyan complained on his Facebook page that there was no meeting of minds yet. Apparently, he was referring to the OPS faction being shortchanged in the post-merger arrangement, maybe as postings to the party’s coordination committee have still not been made. The EPS faction had been saying the appointments would be made once the Election Commission makes its decision in the symbol case. Now that the decision has been made and the party has got the ‘two leaves’ back, is the AIADMK close to seeing the end of this bickering, or will it only get worse?
Me Too A Beneficiary
For the past few days, many papers carried government ads marking “three years of good governance” in Maharashtra. These ads have information about government schemes and a huge picture of a poor villager. The speech bubble says: “I am a beneficiary.” Not everybody believes the success stories, though. The Congress and Shiv Sena are asking how much was spent on the ads, demanding a white paper on the development claims. And social media geniuses are putting out jokes and memes ending with the punch line “I am a beneficiary”, mostly about politicians, who faced corruption charges and then joined the BJP.
Overheard A Union minister, divested of an important ministry and given a less significant one, has been spending a lot of time at Baba Ramdev’s Haridwar ashram, doing meditation and yoga.
