NDA partners in Andhra Pradesh warn cadre as fake accounts stoke discord

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Jana Sena Party and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the three members of the NDA alliance in Andhra Pradesh, have cautioned their social media activists and followers against making personal attacks, posting abusive content and engaging in hostile campaigns against leaders of their alliance partners. In a joint statement on X, the NDA Social Media Coordination Committee reported detecting the presence of fake accounts and "pseudo supporters" who pose as supporters or workers of one party while attacking leaders of another.

These accounts can falsely support one member of the alliance while criticizing another, such as when they support TDP President N. Chandrababu Naidu while attacking Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan. Similarly, accounts pretending to be Jana Sena supporters could target Naidu. Such posts and comments are causing genuine party workers and supporters to react emotionally and engage in counter-attacks against alliance partners, leading to internal conflicts that benefit the YSR Congress Party, according to the statement.

The three parties said that, as they should be united to counter YSRCP's strategies and deliver the development and welfare programs of the coalition government to the people, creating divisions among themselves is against the spirit of the alliance. The alliance leadership has thus decided to jointly address this issue and put an end to such practices.

The committee warned that strict action would be taken against social media activists of TDP, Jana Sena or BJP who engage in personal criticism, abusive remarks or vindictive campaigns against leaders of alliance partners or their families, regardless of the party they belong to. The main aim is to identify these "pseudo" accounts and prevent their attempts to sow discord within the alliance.

The committee appealed to genuine party workers and supporters to show restraint and not react hastily to suspicious posts or comments. Instead, such content should be reported to the respective parties, which would take appropriate action. The social media activists were also asked to counter misinformation being spread about the development and welfare programs being implemented by the central and state governments.

The goal was to explain the facts clearly to the public and widely publicize the development and welfare programs undertaken by the governments. The committee concluded by reminding that, "NDA unity is our strength. Publicising welfare and development programmes is our goal."