In tune with the times on Facebook
Ruhi Tewari -
Thursday, August 27, 2009 4:32 PM
Guess which politician is an active Facebook member? Kannauj MP Akhilesh Yadav, the son of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. Journalists are flocking to add this SP gen-next as their ‘friend' and Yadav junior is obliging most of them.
What is ironic about Akhilesh's presence on Facebook is the party's anti technology stand. Remember the SP's manifesto for the 2009 Lok Sabha election which invited ridicule and criticism for its anti-computer, anti-English education stance? The manifesto opposed the use of computers (after much mockery, the party had clarified its stance claiming it wasn't against using "computers per se") and had been labeled as "regressive", and "retrograde" by most other political parties.
Clearly, the English-educated younger lot in the party disagree and are more in tune with the times.
Even while from deviating from his party's official (lets just say pre-election) stance on computers etc, Akhilesh is carrying forward the party's political agenda on Facebook as well. When the SP had its national executive meet in Agra recently, Akhilesh kept all his Facebook friends in the loop with status updates.
And it looks like anything political on Facebook gets this young MP all charged up - as can be seen by his frequent responses to status messages (of his Facebookf friends) on the on going BJP controversy!
What more, he has uploaded several pictures on his Facebook profile, including some of what look like campaign and rally pictures.
The SP's manifesto and thinking not withstanding, the Yadav scion is obviously only too fond of computers and all the vices that come with it!