Shashi Tharoor at his best! Thiruvananthapuram MP advises party chief Rahul Gandhi with 'Tharoorian' word; says 'keep tweeting, ignore troglodytes'
The Thiruvananthapuram Congress MP never leaves a chance to grab the eyes on him by hitting his self-established bomb 'Tharoorian dictionary' when it is about slamming the oppositions of advising fellow party leaders. In the vast change in the perceptions about the Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, his official Twitter account has played a vital role. Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor whose followership on Twitter is always on peak has advanced Rahul Gandhi to maintain his "unique communication" with the people and to ignore "trolls and troglodytes".
Well, as we reported earlier, Shashi Tharoor was the most followed Congress leader on Twitter but the position was taken over by Rahul Gandhi. Tharoor also said social media could prove to be a "game influencer" in 2019.
In an interview to PTI, Tharoor said the Congress's counter-narrative to the BJP on social media was "witty, eye-catching and trendsetting".
"Even the BJP would do well to now try and take a leaf or two" out of the Congress's book, the former Union minister said. Shashi Tharoor also stresses on his party is not seeking to define itself on social media in metrics comparable to the BJP.
When Tharoor was asked if the micro-blogging site, Twitter played a key role in changing the perceptions of people towards Rahul Gandhi, helping them to know him as a dedicated leader, the MP from Thiruvananthapuram said, "Yes, very much so."
"His enthusiasm on social media, his wit, energy and sense of humour are all on display. This is a man whose engagement on this platform speaks to a wider engagement with politics. There is no 'reluctance' on display here, only commitment and passion to make a better India," the 62-year-old leader said.
"I think it is his work on the ground that has really made him stand out of late and has carved this dynamic image of Rahul as a constructive and attentive statesman. Personally, as someone who urged him to join Twitter, I'm delighted by his popularity on this medium as well," he said.
Asked what he would advise Gandhi now after having urged him to join Twitter, Tharoor said, "I would tell him to keep at it, continue to maintain this unique channel of communication with the people of the country and ignore the trolls and troglodytes along the way, since the positives vastly outweigh the negatives on this medium," Tharoor said.
The Congress chief, Rahul Gandhi recently became the most followed Congress leader by 6.79 million as against Tharoor's just over 6.69 million. However, he is still well behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has 42.3 million followers on Twitter.
