Yesterday (on 25th March), Congress leaders and party trolls targeted Kangana Ranaut with sexual innuendos and sexist slurs following the announcement of her candidature from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh. In a post on Instagram, which was later deleted, Congress National Spokesperson Supriya Shrinate asked, “Kya bhav chal raha hai Mandi me koi batayega? (Will someone tell me what the rate system in Mandi is?)” with a picture of Kangana Ranaut in a corset.
After facing massive backlash for the reprehensible post from her verified social media handles, Congress National Spokesperson Supriya Shrinate later issued a clarification to defend herself. In her clarification video, she claimed that ‘someone who had access to her account’ posted it, adding that the person responsible for making the post will be held accountable. Subsequently, Congress leaders like Pawan Khera and Srinivas BV came forward in her defense.
Any body who has known my colleague @SupriyaShrinate will vouch for the fact that she can never resort to such objectionable language ever. https://t.co/kb67Y1kicr
— Pawan Khera 🇮🇳 (@Pawankhera) March 25, 2024
However, several netizens, journalists, and PR experts have raised questions about her claims, asserting that the final accountability and authority for her social media handles lie with her.
So @SupriyaShrinate should clarify who are the ‘many people’ who have access to her social media account and what are the criteria they are chosen on. She is responsible for the actions of every person on her social media team, because ultimately, it is HER social media account.…
— Shefali Vaidya. 🇮🇳 (@ShefVaidya) March 25, 2024
Supriya Shrinate is Congress Social Media head and she says she doesn't run her Social Media account herself.
— Ankur Singh (Modi Ka Parivar) (@iAnkurSingh) March 25, 2024
Imagine the kind of incompetent people Congress has hired.
But she's just following Congress Tradition.
Manmohan Singh didn't run PMO himself.
Report : 6 people have access to Supriya Shrinate’s insta account. That isn’t uncommon. However, “each post is vetted at three levels. The final responsibility lies with those at the helm, and in this case, it’s Supriya”. One head has rolled. https://t.co/nzCWQATMQN
— Smita Prakash (@smitaprakash) March 26, 2024
As per a News18 report, it has come to light that around 6 persons have access to Shrinate’s Instagram account. This, however, isn’t uncommon. For those unversed, the pattern can be noticed when leaders deliver addresses, and their social media handles keep updating about their activities in real-time, making it abundantly clear that a team operates social media handles for them.
However, there are checks and balances, including multiple levels of scrutiny or vetting processes before content is aired. Accountability is distributed across each level, with the ultimate responsibility and authority resting with the leader whose social media handle is being operated.
As per the News18 report, each post is vetted at three levels. The final responsibility for social media posts from their account lies with those at the helm, and in this case, it’s Congress National Spokesperson Supriya Shrinate. So the buck stops with her. In a bid to do damage control, one person purportedly responsible for sharing the post has been served a notice and laid off, the report added citing sources.
Incidentally, several netizens have also slammed her for not taking responsibility for her own accounts, especially considering her leadership role in the social media team of the Indian National Congress party. According to the Congress leader, instead of holding the top leadership or the post holder accountable, culpability should be placed on lower-rung individuals, making them scapegoats for actions that the account holder(s) is(are) inclined to endorse or may have seemingly endorsed but later retracted due to facing massive backlash.
Supriya Shrinate, Chairperson of Social Media & Digital Platforms, is now under scrutiny for her claims, which imply that an individual has assumed responsibility with little/diffused to no accountability for the public relations of the grand old party, a central pillar of national politics. This situation highlights an abuse of power with autocratic tendencies.
