Stung by Mullappally’s criticism, Cong MLA VT Balram justifies time spent on Facebook

Balram’s post is believed to be in response to KPCC President Mullappally Ramachandran’s remark that those who are active on social media are not there for ground work.
Stung by Mullappally’s criticism, Cong MLA VT Balram justifies time spent on Facebook
Stung by Mullappally’s criticism, Cong MLA VT Balram justifies time spent on Facebook
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Young Congress MLA VT Balram kicked off a Facebook war with writer KR Meera – and now, he’s been left to defend his Facebook use...on Facebook itself. On Saturday, the MLA of Thrithala constituency in Palakkad, took to the social network to claim he was using Facebook as per his convenience, in his own time – however, the MLA also took the opportunity to list out all the ‘on ground’ work he had done on the same day.

This post is being seen as a response to Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee preside Mullappally Ramachandran’s criticism of Balram’s Facebook shenanigans – in a television interview last week, Mullappally had said that those who are very active on social media are not around for ground work.

Balram in his post said, “My priority is to deliver my duties as a public worker, as a people's representative and as a Congress leader. In between, I put posts and comments on social media as per my own wish, as per the convenient time of mine.” In a clear attempt to justify that he was also performing his duties as an MLA and was not just active on social media, he then elaborated on everything he had done that day – from a discussion with officials of the Water Authority and people’s representatives for a drinking water project, to attending two wedding functions, inauguration of a road that was built using his MLA fund and so on.  

KPCC president Mullappally, in an interview to a Malayalam television channel last week, said it was not a good symptom for a public worker to talk in an abusive tone against someone, when he was asked on Balram’s comment on Meera. “When I had gone to Palakkad after assuming charge as KPCC President, I had told Balram that there should be some restraint,” Mullappally said in the television programme. 

Mullappally had even said that when he was on Janamahayatra, a political rally he had taken out across the state, there was no one to make arrangements for it expect “sincere party workers.”

“I didn’t see anyone who is very active on social media, instead it was those Congress workers who are ready even to give their life for the party, who did everything for it,” he said.

The Facebook battle between Meera and Balram began after the latter asked the writer if she had said anything about the recent murders of the two Youth Congress workers in Kasargode. In response, Meera wrote a post on political murders in the state mentioning all political parties. But the Congress supporters took it as being soft on the CPI (M). This was followed by other posts by both of them, and Balaram in one of these posts went to the extent of abusing Meera, in a ridiculing manner.

Earlier Balram had in a post said that Communist icon of the AKG (AK Gopalan) was paedophile. Mullappally in the television interview had also said that Balram's remarks against AKG had upset him.

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