NEW DELHI: From drawing titters for being Twitter-happy to addressing his Congress colleagues on the “dos and don’ts” of micro blogging, Shashi Tharoor has come a long way.

But Congress might have travelled the greater distance, if a first-of-its-kind workshop to train spokespersons on social media on Thursday is any evidence. And the party is according the task due weight by getting together an eclectic mix of experts for the session.

While avid tweeters like Tharoor and Manish Tewari will address the party gathering, sources said official representatives of Facebook and Twitter will speak on how political parties globally have used social media to communicate with people.

The digital penetration in India is limited compared to the west but Congress believes it can be a force multiplier with the urban youth that is wired and perceived to tilt towards the rightwing.

According to an insider, the enthusiasm for ‘virtual weapons’ started as a bid to catch up with BJP with its big first-mover advantage but the leadership has since decided that saffron soldiers cannot have a free run there. A cell was formed under MP Deepender Hooda to beef up the party muscle on social media.

No wonder, as Congress celebrated Rajiv Gandhi’s birth anniversary on Tuesday, some in closed rooms were busy repulsing the saffron charge on the web.

Sources said a hashtag ‘rajivlootdivas’ started trending to stoke memories of Bofors scam and the AICC’s social media cell quickly countered with ‘Rajiv Divas’ and ‘Remembering Rajiv’ to revive positive memories about the leader.

In April, the fledgling web warriors of Congress painted Hindutva strongman Narendra Modi as a “braggart” by mocking his claims at FICCI with ‘feku’ and ‘fekuexpress’. The hashtags have since become the symbol of Congress mocking the arch rival.

In a sign of growing clout of social media, members of Twitter groups ‘withcongress’/’volunteersforcongress’ -- who came together to defend Congress in the face of saffron charge over last few months -- have been invited for the workshop.

It is the second instance of the ruling party embracing private ideological enterprise, having just co-opted independent sympathisers Sanjay Jha and blogger Priyanka Chaturvedi as Congress spokespersons.

According to sources, Congress will soon hold training sessions for “IT cells” to be formed in the states, localising the party’s microblogging response even further.

To insiders, Tharoor epitomizes the arrival of social media in Congress consciousness. After he faced awkward moments with his tweeting, he has now been picked to sensitize partymen on handling social media.

Explaining his participation, a Congress leader said the junior HRD minister has among the highest followers in the country and is best suited to inform partymen on optimal and smart use of the new medium.

