TMC draws plans to strengthen digital wing, will create 10,000 WhatsApp groups: Report

Following in the footsteps of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Trinamool Congress (TMC) is making all efforts to strengthen its digital wing ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, reports The Economic Times.

The digital wing of TMC is known to be devised by Abhishek Banerjee, MP and president of the party’s youth wing as well as nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

How is TMC making its digital wing more effective?

West Bengal’s ruling party has already set up a huge IT cell with a team comprising 40,000 members operating from all 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state with presence in each district, block and booth.

In addition, TMC is taking a number of steps to make its digital wing stronger and is holding workshops to rope in MNCs for training cadres.

It also plans to create 10,000 WhatsApp groups with 256 members in each to take TMC policies, views and issues straight to people before the elections.

The wing has already registered 350 such groups in the last one and half months and it expects to reach its target by October.

“All these groups are political groups. The party has a huge centre in Kolkata with all kinds of sophisticated gadgets to control and monitor social media. It has a core team of 230 professionals who are responsible for publishing and posting content on social media and microblogging sites. It has also set up a ‘digital grid’, which is a highly connected network between the capital city and booth levels. It has its team in every district," a senior member of TMC’s cyber wing told ET.

How is TMC strengthening its social presence?

The party has separate media pages for all MPs. “For each constituency, we have 12 people who look after media content, fake news and handle trolls. Of the 12 people, we have three in the Kolkata control centre, three in district centre, two in blocks and four at the booth level centres,” said a senior member of the cyber wing.