Lucknow: A Facebook page titled ‘Amethi Rae Bareli ki Kahani’ tells the story of lapses of the ruling BJP. The page has 2, 35, 086 followers and 2, 19, 759 people who like it and is dominated by a photograph of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
However, if you are looking for spicy stories from Amethi and Rae Bareli on this page, you are knocking up the wrong door. Even though the tag line says, “Of, by and for Amethi and Rae Bareli”, reports from the two VIP constituencies are few and far in between and moré against the BJP.
The reports and photographs, in fact, are restricted only to visits by the Gandhi family to the two constituencies. The page, in fact, focuses on countering propaganda against the Congress and is filled with video clips from various news channels that speak against the ruling BJP.
Incidentally, the Congress does not officially own up to the page, which is run by a 'community in Delhi'. “The party does not run the Facebook page. There could a group of Congress supporters who have set it up and are running it from New Delhi. We are not aware of the contents on the page,” spokesperson of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee said.
The page also has reports from TV channels on the Uttarakhand scholarship scam, expert opinions on unemployment, farmers' issues, the deplorable medical and health services in UP and the objectionable statements made by BJP leaders on various subjects from time to time. There are even video clips of UP minister Om Prakash Rajbhar doing a jig on stage.
To top it all, the recent statements of BJP leaders Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie have been prominently posted on the page. Each of these posts is juxtaposed by Mr Gandhi’s speeches on the same subject. Posts with the hash tag #Vikas pagal ho gaya hai also dominate the page.
The page, however, does not restrict itself to the Gandhi family alone. Former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri gets his fair share of glory with photographs and video clips of his decision to war with Pakistan.
BJP president Amit Shah's announcement of Gujarat Assembly polls being held in the first week of December is also posted on the page with questions whether the Election Commission has ceased to exist.
The page is not without its share of criticism. Followers also post anti-Congress comments regularly, which are neither deleted nor countered.
