Close on the heels of the temporary suspension of Rahul Gandhi's Twitter account, the Congress late on Wednesday claimed that similar action was taken against the handles of five senior leaders, including media head Randeep Surjewala. The Twitter accounts of AICC general secretary and former minister Ajay Maken, party's whip in Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore, Assam in-charge and former Union minister Jitendra Singh and Mahila Congress president Sushmita Dev have been locked, the party said.
"So! After Shri @RahulGandhi, the Lord @narendramodi Ji and Vassal @Jack & @twitter have locked @rssurjewala, @ajaymaken & @sushmitadevinc. @INCIndia registers its protest and promises to continue the fight for each and all being wronged! We shall hold on @AshwiniVaishnaw Ji (sic)," tweeted Pranav Jha, AICC secretary in-charge of the party's Communication Department. "The list goes on. @Twitter locks @JitendraSAlwar and @manickamtagore and many more. Doesn't Modi Ji understand that we @INCindia'ns have a legacy of fighting even from behind the locks of kaala paani," he asked in another tweet. "He thinks the virtual locks of Twitter will deter us from fighting for India,"he asked.
The Congress has accused Twitter of acting against Gandhi's account under pressure from the government. Gandhi had tweeted pictures with the family of a nine-year-old victim of alleged rape and murder in Delhi last week. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) took cognisance of Gandhi's tweet and directed Twitter to act against the Congress leader's account for violating the privacy of a minor victim, mandated by the laws of the land.
Meanwhile, the Congress on Wednesday appointed Rajya Sabha members Syed Naseer Hussain and Chhaya Verma as party whips in the upper house. Hussain is a MP from Karnataka and Verma from Chhattisgarh and both have been at forefront in the opposition's protests against the government in the Monsoon session, which ended ahead of schedule on Wednesday.