BJP can’t crack GenZ social media code because it likes echo chambers—Congress’s Supriya Shrinate

In a wide-ranging interaction with ThePrint, Congress social media head also attacks BJP and EC over the dissent row, asks why BJP's doing press conferences in EC's support.

Supriya Shrinate, chairperson of the Congress party’s Social Media and Digital Platforms dept, in conversation with ThePrint

New Delhi: The BJP has not been able to ‘crack’ the new age social media, be it Instagram or YouTube, because the ruling party likes echo chambers, chairperson of the Congress party’s Social Media and Digital Platforms department Supriya Shrinate has said.

In an interaction with ThePrint, Shrinate spoke about Congress’s social media strategy, Rahul Gandhi’s engagement with Gen Z, the Election Commission, Congress-Samajwadi talks in Uttar Pradesh and the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc, among other issues.

“Why the BJP has not been able to crack the new age social media, whether it’s Instagram or whether it’s YouTube, is because the BJP likes echo chambers,” Shrinate told ThePrint. The Congress, she said, takes a different approach to different platforms rather than putting out the same material everywhere.

“What may work on X may not work on Facebook. What works on Facebook is going to be a spectacular failure on Instagram because of completely different age groups, completely different cohorts,” she said. She contrasted it with what she described as a longer engagement by Rahul Gandhi with young people, rather than an outreach strategy developed in response to a Gen Z protest.

“If you actually see the Gen Z protest, for instance, look at how Rahul Gandhi is interacting with Gen Z… what Rahul Gandhi is doing at his programmes… 60 to 70 per cent space is actually given to young students to voice their concerns,” she said.

“We did not wake up to Gen Z after the protest. My leader did not suddenly realise at midnight that I want to do a front camera video and think that is engaging with you. My leader was engaging with you till four years back,” she added.

Shrinate also dismissed the narrative that the Congress needed to counter the narrative being spun by the BJP which portrays Gandhi as an ‘ineffective’ leader. “I don’t need to counter it. I think the people are countering it. I’m not going to waste my time countering something which is not selling,” she said.

“If Rahul Gandhi was as irrelevant as they want the people to believe he is, they would not respond to him with all the might that they have and come after him. Why would they?” she added.

The ‘mother’ issue

Shrinate also criticised BJP social media posts targeting former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, referring to morphed and AI-generated images shared by BJP handles. “Sonia Gandhi is one of the most respected leaders. She is an 80-year-old woman. She has borne the brunt of losing her husband in this country. She’s been a widow now for almost 35 years. This is what you are doing to her with her name,” she said.

“Eventually BJP deleted those tweets and if there was nothing wrong, they would not have deleted those tweets,” she added.

Shrinate also objected to the repeated invocation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s late mother in political rhetoric. “The Prime Minister’s mother, may her soul rest in peace, is dead. I think the BJP indulges in dirty politics by invoking her each time. Why can you not let the woman be? The prime minister should ask his troll army to stop doing this,” she said.

“Anybody’s mother is respected. My mother deserves as much respect as the prime minister’s mother. Or for that matter, Mrs Gandhi,” she added.

On the Election Commission

Shrinate argued that the issue had now moved beyond the Congress, with Opposition parties increasingly engaging with Rahul Gandhi’s concerns about the electoral process.

“I think there is no denying the fact that India’s democracy is under threat, under serious attack, and that attack is not coming from an external force. That attack on India’s democracy and your right to vote is coming from the very agency, the very institution that is responsible for free and fair elections,” she said.

“Thirteen crore Indians have lost their voting rights across 31 states and Union Territories where the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) happened. You now have people from within the Election Commission say that this was illegal and unauthorised,” she added.

The figures and allegations formed part of Shrinate’s argument that Congress would continue to raise the issue. She said the party’s next course of action would be decided at the Congress Working Committee meeting.

Shrinate also questioned the BJP’s defence of the Election Commission— an independent statutory body. “Why is it that the BJP is doing press conferences in its support? If you really cared about Indian democracy and you have a report that says this, don’t listen to Rahul Gandhi, but listen to the newspaper report. Listen to the follow-up stories that have happened in other media,” she said.

“Gyanesh Kumar should be answering or Gyanesh Kumar needs to go. He needs to resign,” she added.

‘INDIA bloc not an NGO’

Shrinate said Opposition parties could continue to compete against each other in state politics while coming together on larger issues such as democracy, the Constitution and free and fair elections; she reiterated that they remain united at fighting an unfair system despite differences in states.

“We are not an NGO, we are a political party. At a larger level we are together on certain issues. And those issues pertain to democracy, to the Constitution and to free and fair elections,” she said.

She cited Rahul Gandhi’s conversation with former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee after the Assembly elections there as an example of this distinction, despite the Congress having fought against the Trinamool. “Mr Gandhi was the first to come and say that this election is rigged,” she said.

For Shrinate, differences between parties at the state level do not necessarily prevent them from working together on broader questions concerning democracy and elections.

‘Bigger picture’ in Tamil Nadu

Shrinate defended the Congress decision to break with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and ally with the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) after the Tamil Nadu elections as one taken with the “larger picture” in mind. She said Rahul Gandhi continued to refer to DMK chief M.K. Stalin as “brother” and that there remained a desire for the two parties to work together on national issues.

“The big picture was we could not have allowed the BJP to tamper with or to interfere in a mandate that the people had very resoundingly delivered,” she said.

Shrinate rejected the suggestion that the decision amounted to political opportunism. “I don’t think it was political opportunism at all. I do believe that this was the means to keep the BJP, its dirty, nefarious politics out of Tamil Nadu,” she said.

“As political parties, you take political calls based on what the people’s verdict is,” she added.

The Uttar Pradesh front

Shrinate, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, said that seat-sharing discussions are taking place between the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress, reiterating that they are open to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) joining their coalition.

“Mr Gandhi and Mr Yadav have great chemistry. They talk to each other very often on crucial issues. We stand by each other on personal issues,” she said. “There will be some pull and some push on seats. That’s bound to happen because we work very hard on our organisation there,” she added.

“If Mayawati comes with us, we will be very happy. So will the SP. She has to decide who is she fighting and what is she fighting for,” she said

Punjab schools, Gen Z protests

Shrinate said that the condition of schools in Punjab was “pitiable”, and but questioned the Cockroach Janata Party’s (CJP’s) response to protests by students at Lovely Professional University.

“I do not see the same voices of protest or the same kind of anger or the same kind of shock being expressed by them when students are being mercilessly beaten up by the Punjab Police in the Lovely Professional University (LPU) campus,” she said.

She questioned whether political affiliations should determine when a party or pressure group chooses to speak out, particularly when young people are involved. “If you were standing with Gen Z, then [stand] wherever they are under attack,” she said.

The Congress, she added, had also raised concerns about protests despite being in an alliance with the government concerned. “Students have a right to be heard,” she said.

“I do feel that as far as calling out the Aam Aadmi Party is concerned, a lot is left to be desired on their part,” she added.

(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)