These are the 12 Congress leaders being monitored by Narendra Modi

Screenshot of Narendra Modi's Twitter account

From Rahul Gandhi and Shashi Tharoor to Jyotiraditya Scindia and Digvijaya Singh, Modi is keeping an eye on Opposition leaders who set the agenda.

New Delhi: If Twitter lists are anything to go by, it seems that Prime Minister Narendra Modi likes to keep a track of agenda-setting leaders from the Opposition, especially Congress.

A closer look at Modi’s ‘following’ list on Twitter reveals that out of the 1,945 people he follows from India and abroad, 12 are Congress leaders. Most of these leaders, often Congress spokespersons, represent the party in the public space to spread its narrative.

The Prime Minister also follows Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

But @RahulGandhi, the Twitter handle of the Congress chief, shows he follows only 185 people, and it doesn’t include the Prime Minister.

Other Congress leaders

Modi also follows senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who is very active on Twitter and always comes up with his own viewpoint. He is also very vocal about the party’s stand on various subjects. Tharoor is the second-most popular Congress leader on Twitter after Rahul Gandhi.

Ahmed Patel, the recently-appointed party treasurer, comes from Gujarat and is a key person connecting the dots between the Congress of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. Modi follows Patel as he’s both a fellow Gujarati and a Congress strongman.

Along with Patel, Modi follows another senior Congress leader, Digvijaya Singh, who has currently taken a backseat from national politics but is chairman of party’s coordination committee in Madhya Pradesh. Singh often made news over his Twitter posts in the past.

Congress in-charge of communication Randeep Singh Surjewala too has the privilege of being followed by the PM. On most days, Surjewala personally spells out party’s viewpoint in the public.

Media regulars

Apart from these, Modi follows Madhya Pradesh leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, former union minister R.P.N. Singh, former MPs Milind Deora and C.P. Joshi, noted lawyer and Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Maharashtra leader Prithviraj Chavan and Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken. All these leaders are regulars in the media defending or presenting the party line over various issues.

Modi also follows Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu who jumped to the Congress from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of assembly elections last year.

Rahul Gandhi’s list

Of the 185 people on his list, Rahul Gandhi follows a host of international leaders, from US President Donald Trump to other US leaders like Barack Obama, Bernie Sanders, Bill and Hillary Clinton to French President Emanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

In addition, Gandhi also follows a number of leaders from Indian parties other than the BJP. The list includes Sharad Pawar, Akhilesh Yadav, Lalu Prasad, Tejashwi Yadav, Sharad Yadav, Mamata Banerjee and M.K. Stalin. Gandhi also follows President Ram Nath Kovind.

Patna Sahib MP Shatrughan Sinha is the only BJP leader followed on Twitter by Gandhi. Sinha is unhappy with the current regime and has been vocal about his disagreement and grievances with Modi and the BJP.

Gandhi mostly follows his own party leaders and different state Congress units on Twitter.