Kolkata, March 8 -- In a bid to give instant rebuttals to Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) campaign on social media for the Lok Sabha election, Trinamool Congress (TMC) is forming a team comprising its heavyweight leaders.

Realising that the saffron brigade needs to be countered on social media, a platform that has in recent years become a campaign medium for political parties, TMC has decided to form a team that will refute the posts by BJP's IT-cell every day to ensure that people are not allegedly misled by them.

In recent days, the party has accused the BJP's IT cell head Amit Malviya of spreading canards to create unrest in the state. Last month, he was accused by TMC of spreading fake news that a few women were forcibly taken away by the police in Sandeshkhali. The West Bengal Police had subsequently clarified on social media that the fact is that a lady named Rekha Patra, a resident of Sandeshkhali, had gone along with four other local women to depose before the Ld magistrate of Basirhat court in connection with a case, in which she is the complainant. "The I.O of the case had escorted them to the court to ensure their safety and security," the police had clarified.

In the wake of such developments, it has reportedly come to light that Trinamool is forming a 40-member team at the instructions of party's chairperson Mamata Banerjee. The team will comprise MPs, MLAs and spokespersons. The team will monitor all social media posts by BJP's IT Cell and give instant rebuttals to them. A research team will also be in charge to help frame replies with accurate data. Besides Bengal, party leaders Sushmita Dev, Mukul Sangma and Sagarika Ghose will be working from Guwahati, Shillong and Delhi, respectively.

Sources said that the party has realised in present day it needs to be extra active on social media to beat the BJP which is learnt to have been investing a lot of time and money behind its IT-Cell. Similar measures are being taken by the TMC ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.