He is popular on social media and has a dedicated fan base which seemingly includes even stars... but he is a bureaucrat. Kozhikode District Collector Prasanth Nair's reach and popularity on social media it seems has not gone down well with some. Kozhikode District Congress Committee (DCC) president K.C. Abu condemned Prasanth for being active on social media. “His social media activism is just a show off tactic and he is a communist. He never picks up our phone calls and I can’t go to Facebook or Whatsapp to talk to him in this age. We can't go ahead with the upcoming Panchayath elections with him as District Collector,” Abu told others at the DCC Executive meeting held on Thursday. Abu has also said that MK Raghavan, Member of Parliament shares the same opinion with him. Even as Abu was getting mightily trolled for his comments on Prasanth, Raghavan was quick enough to deflect any criticism coming his way. He staunchly denied Abu's statements. “I don’t have to blame Prasanth for getting involved in the development of Kozhikode through social media. I am happy that social media is discussing the problems of the district. It is only with the public's help that we can go ahead in development initiatives,” he wrote on Facebook. Prasanth has been active on social media since he took charge as the district collector and had launched many projects with social media support. His campaign to improve the facilities of Kuthiravattom mental hospital and a recent project, Operation Sulaimani, to eliminate hunger by providing food free of cost to the needy, had grabbed national attention. More than 55 thousand people follow his Facebook page, that was started just four months back. His latest venture ‘Project 4N’ an initiative to fix potholes on roads has also got wide traction. Meanwhile Congerss MLA VT Balram, an active social media user came out in support of Collector. “Leaders should walk beyond the time, if that is not possible please don’t be behind it always. For a politician every medium through which he can communicate directly to the public without any middle men is a weapon. You don't become old because of your age, instead your age-old thoughts can make you an old man,” Balram wrote in his Facebook post.