On January 16, Prime Minister Modi inaugurated the Kollam bypass in Kerala. On the same day, a Twitter conversation by user Lakshmi Venugopal on the construction of the long pending Thiruvalla bypass in Kottayam blew up into a controversy involving the Member of Parliament of the area.
It started with Lakshmi’s innocuous saying, “If Modi is smart, let him finish the Tiruvalla bypass and show us.” The tweet was an obvious dig at the long pending construction of the bypass. But from here, things started to get problematic for Lakshmi.
A Congressman named Matthew then cracked another joke on the BJP and CPI(M) and said that only the Congress was going to finish the bypass. He tagged Pathanamthitta Congress MP Anto Antony and former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
“We were making fun of politicians there and then came a guy who is a supporter of Congress. He made fun of the Prime Minister and Chief Minister and tagged the MP of our constituency, Mr Anto Antony and Mr Oommen Chandy to the tweet. I didn’t identify the political thing he did here, otherwise, I’d have ignored him. Seeing this tweet, I said the first thing which came to my mind, that I don’t think this MP knows if Thiruvalla is there,” Lakshmi said.
Surprisingly, the MP stepped in here and replied that he visits Thiruvalla often to inaugurate events and he is even coming on that very day. “I would like to see you. Do share with me your phone number so that I can let you know when I am in Thiruvalla,” he added in his tweet written in Malayalam.
ഇതൊക്കെ കാണുന്നുമുണ്ട് കേൾക്കുന്നുമുണ്ട്.
— Anto Antony (@antoantonyinc) January 20, 2019
തിരുവല്ലയിൽ ഒട്ടേറെ പരിപാടികളിൽ പങ്കെടുക്കുന്നതാണ്‌, ഇതുവരെ നിങ്ങളെ കാണുവാൻ ഒരു അവസരം ഉണ്ടായിട്ടില്ല. ഇന്ന് വൈകീട്ട് വീണ്ടും വരുന്നുണ്ട് നിങ്ങളുടെ നമ്പർ തരുകയാണെങ്കിൽ വിളിച്ച് അറിയിക്കുന്നതായിരക്കും
Lakshmi responded to this by asking if the MP can name 10 things he has done for Thiruvalla in the last two terms that he held office. Starting from this point, she claims that several other users jumped into the conversation, some criticising her, others harassing her for questioning the MP.
നിങ്ങൾ പരിപാടികളിൽ പങ്കെടുക്കുവോ എടുക്കാതിരിക്കുവോ ചെയ്യുന്നത് നിങ്ങളുടെ സൗകര്യം. ഞാൻ അതല്ല ഉദ്ദേശിച്ചത്. 2 terms എംപിയായി ഇരുന്നതല്ലേ. നിങ്ങൾ തിരുവല്ലായ്ക്ക് വേണ്ടി ചെയ്ത ഒരു 10 കാര്യങ്ങൾ ലിസ്റ്റ് ചെയ്യാമോ? ഒന്നുമില്ലെങ്കിലും കാണിച്ചുതരാൻ പറ്റുന്ന എന്തെങ്കിലും?
— Lakshmi (@tsundoker) January 20, 2019
One user even went to the extent of taking the family photo of the man who was part of the original conversation with Lakshmi and tagging it with a derogatory and nasty comment.
Lakshmi chronicled all this on a blog that was shared by many on social media.
On January 26, Lakshmi approached Kerala Cyber Police and the Chief Minister’s office with a complaint against nine Twitter handles for harassing her.
“I am facing threats and targeted attacks since January 16th 2019. Mr MP or Mr Oommen Chandy who are in the loop haven't done anything to stop these attacks or given me an answer,” she stated in the complaint.
On Saturday, following the complaint, the MP addressed Lakshmi in a thread and claimed her attempts to get elected representatives answer questions was her way of seeking 'unnecessary attention'
“Dear Lakshmi, unnecessary attention seeking is not the means to getting your elected representative to answer your concerns. If you really want to know, all you can do is visit my office or call my office or even better, just call me like everyone else. Your intentions to hold office bearers accountable is applaudable but if you craft futile allegations based on speculations, you're most likely going to get a humorous reply,” he said.
He then apologised on behalf of Twitter handles who were attempting to advocate for him.
“Last but not the least, if you felt the slightest of cyber harassment from anyone trying to advocate for me, I apologise on behalf of them. Let all of them know through this tweet that I condemn such condescending statements for any reason whatsoever.,” he said. Attached with this thread was also a list of achievements that the MP did in his 10 year stint in Thiruvalla.
The MP’s attempt to brand Lakshmi’s tweet as attention seeking has been condemned by many users.
The way you apologized for the misbehaviors of your cronies is applaudable. But with all due respect, elected representatives are after all representatives. You took time to make a list of your projects. You could have published all this, instead of making us poke and enquire?
— വാൾട്ടർ മിറ്റീടെ സീക്രട്ട്‌ ലൈഫ്‌ (@IamGeorgy) January 26, 2019
Attention seeking? Okay by that logic, you dont dare to come to our home for asking votes or we may sue you for tresspassing.
— George (@GeorgeKarikku) January 26, 2019
Dear @antoantonyinc , Asking questions is not attention seeking. Also, if you ever read the whole thread, @tsundoker didn't ask or drag you first, it was done by some other over zealous tweeple. Then the abuses started. Your first reply also didn't help to contain the matters.
— (@anoopxh) January 26, 2019