So is @OfficeOfRG RG's official handle? Will @INCIndia or Cong social media team clarify please? @Rahul_Pandey_1
— Rohini Singh (@Rohinisgh) May 5, 2015
While it sparked off speculation, there was no confirmation. As of 11 am on Thursday, the account, with the profile picture of the Congress Vice President, had no bio or even a single tweet, but it had already amassed over 12,000 eager followers, ranging from veteran journalists to different Congress leaders on Twitter, including the official account of its youth wing National Students Union of India.
Even supporters of the party, however, seemed to be left confused by the choice of handle.
Frankly, a bad choice of handle @OfficeOfRG, should have just got @rahulgandhi & mentioned in Bio that its handled by office. #SM101
— Suryanarayan Ganesh (@gsurya) May 7, 2015
Finally, the national spokesperson of the party seemed to confirm the news by responding, with a reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Twitter account:
yes @rahulkanwal better the handle clarifies its purpose rather than outsourcing a personalised handle like someone we know ;) @OfficeOfRG
— Priyanka Chaturvedi (@priyankac19) May 7, 2015
Questions, however, remained:
So Rahul Gandhi finally on twitter? @OfficeOfRG . We know who runs @narendramodi account, who will manage RG account?
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) May 6, 2015
Many journalists pointed out that the office of Rahul Gandhi had started the process of getting the account verified through Twitter before it started tweeting.
So, apparently, @OfficeOfRG is being handled by Mitakshara Kumari. (1/2)
— Ritika Chopra (@KhurafatiChopra) May 7, 2015
Rahul Gandhi's communication team has applied for verification. @OfficeOfRG expected to be verified by today or tomorrow. (2/2)
— Ritika Chopra (@KhurafatiChopra) May 7, 2015
However, an official claimed that Twitter was yet to receive any communication from the party, and there seemed to be no clarity about whether to give it the status of an official account. The choice of handle too indicated that the party wanted to play it safe by distancing their leader and it was pretty apparent that we weren't going to see any personalised tweeting from him. While the account thus remained silent, there were others more than willing to speak on its behalf as it didn't take long for parody accounts with similar handles such as "OffiseOfRG", "OfficeOffRG" and "Officeinrg" to come up.
This is my first tweet. Hope i will get your support to expose the suit-boot ki sarkar
— Office Of RG (@OfficeOffRG) May 6, 2015
Shri @digvijaya_28 is our lion on twitter. He is giving sleepless nights to communal forces here
— Office Of RG (@OfficeOffRG) May 7, 2015
My mom asked me to come on to Twitter. Now it is Chota Bheem time. See you laters.
— Offise Of RG (@OffiseOfRG) May 7, 2015
And as the news spread, others joined in too.
Breaking: Rahul Gandhi is on Twitter now: @OfficeOfRG. Direct your jokes here
— Gabbbar (@GabbbarSingh) May 6, 2015
Rahul Gandhi's account @OfficeOfRG will be active only between 00:00 Hrs and 12:00 Hrs. because no PM.
— maithun @Being_Humor (@Being_Humor) May 7, 2015
As the jokes mounted, the party perhaps decided to step in with some damage-control. The account was given a formal bio, as it also got verified:
This is the official account of the Office of Rahul Gandhi | Member of Parliament | Vice President, Indian National Congress
12, Tughlak Lane, New Delhi · http://www.inc.in
Not only a bio, the account also tweeted and made it clear what to expect: good old-fashioned press hand-outs:
On 12th May Rahul Gandhi will begin a 15km padyatra in Telangana's Adilabad Dist- covering 5 villages,starting from Wadial Village
— Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) May 7, 2015
Watch this space for information and updates on Rahul Gandhi's official programs and upcoming events
— Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) May 7, 2015
The response to his tweets summed up what a let-down this whole build-up had been:
RG @PIB_India is now active @OfficeOfRG posts 1st tweet. Hopefully someday he will realise @twitter is not for disseminating press releases.
— Rahul Kanwal (@rahulkanwal) May 7, 2015
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