Political leaders in Kerala seem to have been bitten by the Facebook bug since the time of the Assembly elections.
With ministers in the current government taking to Facebook to inform the public about ministerial decisions and policies, opposition leaders too, followed suit.
On Tuesday, opposition leader Ramesh Chennitha took to Facebook asking users to send him questions about problems they face. These questions will be addressed in the next Assembly session beginning on September 26, he promised.
“You can tell us what issues the opposition must raise in the assembly. It could be anything from a burning issue in your locality to something that affects the entire state. Your opinions and feedback is valuable to us. We are confident that you will cooperate with this initiative that is aimed at making the affairs of the assembly accessible to all and in the betterment of the state,” Chennithala wrote.
Chennithala also wrote that the government’s responses would, in turn, be posted on Facebook for the public’s knowledge.
Many users did participate in the initiative, posted on a variety of problems in the comment section. Their issues ranged from the stray dog problem to political violence to unemployment to the government’s stand on the liquor policy.
However, a major portion of comments turned out to be criticisms of the UDF itself.
Many users commented on the timing of the post, accusing the UDF of not spearheading a similar initiative while they were in power.
“UPA ruled for 10 years. Out of this, Oommen Chandy was in power for 5 years in Kerala. How can Chennithala do things that he wasn’t able to do all these years?” one user asked.
Another user commented on the lack of enthusiasm from Chennithala when questions turned against the UDF, writing,
“Now that you have decided to do this, why not ask the Vigilance to conduct enquiry against Benny Behnan (a Congress leader) and not just K Babu?”
Another user couldn’t believe that the Opposition leader could “stoop so slow.”
“You did take up a lot of initiatives while in power. Kindly fulfill them first. You didn’t do anything while in power, what wonders will you show sitting in the opposition?” the user wanted to know.
