New Delhi: After much hesitation that has left him with a lot to catching up to do, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday joined Twitter . Gandhi’s Twitter handle, called “Office of RG", had no bio on it and was yet to send out any tweet as of 8.30pm.

The account, which carries a profile picture of the 44-year-old Gandhi, had more than 1,800 followers as of 8.30pm, including the official Twitter account of the National Students Union of India (NSUI), the students’ wing of the Congress party.

A senior party leader aware of the development said the account was authentic and was of Gandhi’s office. “It is yet to be verified because it was launched only today, but it is his account," the party leader said.

In the absence of an official party communication, Mint could not independently verify the authenticity of the Twitter account.

The Gandhi scion went on a nearly two-month-long leave during the first half of the budget session of Parliament, but returned to engage more vigorously with the public on several issues. These include the real estate bill and the controversial land acquisition amendment bill. He has also made interventions in the Lok Sabha on the issue of farm distress and net neutrality since his return.

Political experts feel that an active social media campaign was one the crucial factors in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election to power last year, especially in helping him connect with the youth and people in urban areas.

Modi has 12.1 million followers on his account and is the third most followed leader globally, according to Twiplomacy 2015, a study of world leaders on Twitter Inc. by global public relations and communications firm Burson-Marsteller.

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