Another Setback For Congress In Gujarat: Rajkot IT Cell Resigns, Says It Was Being ‘Ignored’ By The Party

Congress suffered another major setback in poll-bound Gujarat on Saturday (2 December) as the party’s Rajkot Information Technology (IT) Cell resigned en masse after allegedly getting ‘repeatedly ignored’ by the local leaders.

IT cells play a major role in local and national politics owing to the growing reach of social media in the country. IT cells are tasked with a party’s outreach to the masses as traditional methods of election campaigning become obsolete. The IT cell resignations, a week before the polls, hence, come as a major setback to the Congress which has said it would emerge as the winner in the upcoming polls.

The resignation came in the form of a common letter, signed by all 28 office bearers of the city IT cell and is addressed to the head of the state IT cell, Rohan Gupta, as reported by the Financial Times.

The letter states that the city cell is facing disregard by the city unit as they are being kept out of the planning and campaign operations. It also reads that the cell “has been working sincerely without any help and by spending from its own pocket”, highlighting the dissatisfaction among the members.

It further states that “the IT cell team of Rajkot city unit of Congress, including cell chairman Bahrgav Padiyar, voluntarily become inactive from our respective posts”.

Rajkot is one of the most important constituencies in Gujarat, with the incumbent BJP Chief Minister Vijay Rupani contesting from Rajkot (West). The Congress has already had its share of factionalism in Rajkot, and the latest blow comes after the party’s attempt to settle things by changing the city unit head. However, as the latest incident suggests, the measures have seemingly failed to keep the party together.

This incidence comes on the heels of the Congress trying to ramp up its social media operations that have hence seen an upswing recently.