Former Mandya MP and Congress social media chief Divya Spandana has deactivated her Twitter account without giving any prior explanation. Similarly, her Instagram page also seems to have been deactivated. However, at the time of writing, her official Facebook page continues to exist.
According to media reports, Divya Spandana, also known as Ramya, had last tweeted a congratulatory message to Nirmala Sitharaman for being the first woman full-time Finance Minister, sparking controversy.
TNM could not reach the actor-turned-politician for a comment. However, speaking to news agency ANI, she has denied reports claiming that she was no longer a part of the party’s social media team.
Ramya was given the role of chief of the All India Congress Committee's social media wing in May 2017. Since then, she has been credited for turning around the party’s online presence compared to the BJP, which had a robust IT cell already. She is also known for her tongue-in-cheek responses to the BJP and directly criticising the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo.
In a similar situation in October 2018, there were reports of Ramya getting the axe for making controversial statements against the Prime Minister after her bio on her Twitter profile went missing. A sedition case was also registered against her by Uttar Pradesh police for a photoshopped image of PM Modi painting “chor” on his wax statue.
Responding to those reports, she had then said that she was on a temporary leave and the missing bio was due to a “bug”.
This recent development comes days after party’s chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjwala had announced that the party leaders or its spokespersons won’t be appearing in the media for the next month. This in the light of Rahul Gandhi being keen on resigning from the position of the party president despite opposition from many senior leaders and some party workers.
Rahul’s decision comes after the party’s poor performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls with little improvement from its 2014 tally.