NADDA TO LEADERS: USE SOCIAL MEDIA CAUTIOUSLY

NEWDELHI:Bhartiya Janata Party president JP Nadda has told party office bearers to be cautious of their social media activity during the 21-day lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease outbreak. In a first, many officials are working from home, along with a major chunk of the country’s workforce, as a preventive measure.

The instruction was conveyed during an hour-long briefing, co-hosted by party leader BL Santosh, on Thursday.

“Naddaji told us that while some of us may not be in a position to go out and help people because we were quarantined, we should be sensitive to the worker’s psyche,’’ said one of the leaders who attended the meeting on condition of anonymity. “Some of us have been posting photos of yoga sessions, of relaxing during the lockdown. Naddaji’s point is that this is discouraging, because the worker will resent the fact that he’s out on the streets volunteering to help while senior leaders seem to be having a good time,” the leader cited above said. A second leader who also attended the video conference, said, “He just took it up for 15 seconds because he wanted to convey that this isn’t a holiday. After the lockdown was imposed, many BJP MPs had shared their photos while doing yoga, playing with their pets or mingling with family.

Union minister Prakash Javdekar was criticized for tweeting a photo of himself watching Ramayana in his living room. Reacting to the party president’s directive, BJP leader Kailash Vijaywargiya said, “I think that if you like reading and you like bhajans (devotional music), it’s not tough.”

THE INSTRUCTION WAS CONVEYED DURING AN HOUR-LONG BRIEFING, CO-HOSTED BY PARTY LEADER BL SANTOSH, ON THURSDAY.