The Gujarat unit of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday alleged that its Facebook and Instagram accounts were suspended at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The suspension comes just ahead of voting for local body elections scheduled for Sunday.
AAP's Social Media Reach
State party president Isudan Gadhvi stated, 'Our Facebook and Instagram accounts achieved a reach of 8 crore in the past 28 days. AAP Gujarat has 7.19 lakh followers on Facebook and 3.2 lakh followers on Instagram. The BJP is scared of our social media reach during campaigning, and our accounts were suspended on the behest of the BJP.'
AAP leader Sagar Rabari elaborated, claiming the accounts were suspended because they were receiving massive responses from the people of Gujarat. 'In the past 28 days, the reach of our Instagram account increased by 196%, receiving 33.9 million views. Similarly, the reach of our Facebook page increased by 184%, receiving 42.9 million views. A flustered BJP is responsible for the suspension of our accounts ahead of voting for the local bodies,' he said.
Congress Accuses AAP of Being BJP's B-Team
The political rhetoric intensified on Saturday as Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee president Amit Chavda launched an attack on AAP. Addressing a press conference at Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan, Chavda alleged that AAP is working as 'BJP's B team' and misleading voters. He accused the party of not being a genuine opposition force and claimed that AAP is backed by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). According to him, the political positioning of both parties has created a false narrative of rivalry. He added that the upcoming elections would give people an opportunity to respond and hold parties accountable.
