How did Rahul Gandhi gain 1 million Twitter followers in two months?

Rahul Gandhi looks different, at least on twitter. He cracks jokes. He makes sarcastic comments; and takes his political opponents in a head-on fashion. And this new avatar on twitter is getting expected response from the other side.

Rahul Gandhi

Indian Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi addresses the gathering during a congress rally in Paddal Ground, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, India, 07 October 2017. Source: AAP Image/EPA/SANJAY BAID

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s twitter account @OfficeofRG made news when India Today reported that @OfficeOfRG received more retweets than Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is very popular on twitter. According to this report, “@OfficeOfRG got 2,784 retweets in September on average, as compared to 2,506 for Modi and and 1,722 for Arvind Kejriwal.”

This raised many eyebrows as Rahul Gandhi been mocked at for being not so articulate. Opposition attacked Rahul Gandhi branding his so called rise on twitter as fake. Cabinet Minister Smriti Irani indicated that Rahul Gandhi received fake retweets. Irani tweeted, “Perhaps @OfficeOfRG planning to sweep polls in Russia, Indonesia & Kazakhstan??”
News agency ANI has questioned Rahul Gandhi’s popularity on twitter reporting that “a cursory glance at the twitter handles retweeting the Congress Vice President's tweets does throw up some questions...are these automated 'bots' mass retweeting Rahul Gandhi's tweets?”

Another minister in BJP government, Rajyavardhan Rathore, compared the act to doping in sports. "In sports, this would come under 'Doping'... hey wait!?? Does 'dope' remind you of someone," he said in a tweet.
If one goes through recent tweets by Rahul Gandhi though, one can notice that his tweets are different. They are humorous, cheeky, sarcastic and more direct. In its report India today revealed that Rahul Gandhi’s social media team is actively working on rebranding his image.

Rahul has gained 10 lakh followers in about two months. He is tweeting on every issue from cinema to sports to politics. He uses poetry and jokes regularly to drive the point home. The most interesting are his ‘sarcastic jibes’.
As The Quint writes, “This New Rahul Gandhi Makes Politics Very Interesting on Twitter.”

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2 min read

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By Vivek Asri


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