With lots of political drama going in West Bengal these days, famous social networking site Facebook has emerged to be a new platform to attract the masses without the fear of getting misquoted and being asked uncomfortable questions.
All the ministers including union Home Minister P.Chidambaram are using Facebook as a medium to make their political move, whether it be on the worsening law and order situation in the state to the presidential poll or to attacks on educational institutions. Facebook has become a medium to debate for the supporters and leaders of various political groups.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and several of her cabinet colleagues have used the social networking site to raise various political issues including the flip-flop on the presidential poll, the Park Street rape case, the arrest of a professor for circulating cartoons on Facebook and banning of newspapers.
"It is one of the best ways to reach out to urban masses without being misinterpreted by the media. If you are in politics then (social networking) is a necessity," Forest Minister Hiten Burman, who maintains an account on Facebook, told IANS.
Even the alliance partner Congress, has created a Facebook page and its state chief Pradip Bhattacharya is continuously trying to utilize it in the possible ways to take on the alleged high-handedness of the Trinamool .
In addition to that, the opposition Left Front, who were against the introduction of computers in the early 1990s, are very often in using Facebook to highlight in cyber space the "misdeeds" of the new government in this state of 92 million people, the fourth most populated in India.
Although political defamation between the Congress, the Trinamool and the Left Front on Facebook and Orkut was quite common during the run-up to the assembly elections last year, but such type of official statements were never posted in these sites which is now becoming a trend for the political bosses or the chief minister.
But after being checkmated and left red-faced by the Congress in her presidential poll maneuvring, Mamta Banerjee started a campaign by posting statements on her newly created Facebook page that stated her choice for the post of president.
Moreover, She has used Facebook to make official statements on a series of issues from the Singur verdict to sanitizing Indian politics from "spineless and corrupt politicians".
Banerjee's successful use of Facebook as a mass medium can be seen from the fact that since June 18, her page has received 92,000 likes and the 18 posts she has made so far have received more than 2,000 comments each on an average.
"It is really a surprise that she is using Facebook. I don't know what expression to use other than 'maintaining double standards'," the Congress' Bhattacharya said.
Political analysts, however, feel that Banerjee's venture into Facebook is a ploy to avoid uncomfortable questions from journalists.
Other regular users of Facebook include Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim, Trinamool leader Sankudeb Panda, Congress leader Omprakash Mishra and CPI-M leaders like Sujan Chakraborty, Samik Lahiri and Tanmay Bhattacharya.
For example, the Facebook account of Hakim includes articles of alleged violence perpetuated by the CPI-M, the covert axis between the CPI-M and the Congress and a picture of Indira Gandhi with late Marxist leader Jyoti Basu.
In contrast, Pradip Bhattacharya is a new entrant on Facebook. Bhattacharya, with his 11 posts, has effectively used it to endorse the claims of deteriorating law and order and criticise Trinamool's till date rigid stand in opposing the policies of the central government.
"If you want to take your views to the masses without being misinterpreted then you have to be on Facebook. It is a place where you have direct contact with the masses and can get an idea of their views," he said.
Tanmay Bhattacharya, one of the most regular Marxist politicians on Facebook, feels that with the ever-increasing popularity of the social networking site, it is really hard to ignore the impact and reach of Facebook.
-With inputs from IANS
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