Intensifying its attack on Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, the BJP on Thursday said that the Gandhi scion’s entire social media campaign was being managed with the help of political data analytics firm, Cambridge Analytica.
Addressing a press conference, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Parasad said: “Rahul Gandhi’s entire social media campaign has been managed with the help of Cambridge Analytica during elections and they also held several meetings.”
“Will Congress Party depend on data theft and manipulation to win elections? Congress has maintained conspicuous silence on their ties with Cambridge Analytica,” he added.
The minister further said that the Centre supports free exchange of ideas on social media but attempts to influence India’s electoral process through undesirable means will not be tolerated.
Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi had accused the Centre of inventing a story on data theft to divert attention from the death of 39 Indians in Mosul, Iraq.
In a tweet, the Gandhi scion said: “Problem: 39 Indians dead; Govt on the mat, caught lying. Solution: Invent story on Congress & Data Theft. Result: Media networks bite bait; 39 Indians vanish from radar. Problem solved.”
On Wednesday, the BJP had accused the Congress of having links with Cambridge Analytica that has been accused of stealing data to allegedly influence electoral process.
The data firm, which has ties to President Donald Trump’s campaign, reportedly accessed information from about 50 million Facebook users without their knowledge, CNN reported.
Hitting back at the BJP, the Congress said that the party availed its services in 2010.
The Congress also said that company’s India partner is Ovelina Business Intelligence, which is being run by the son of a JD-U MP, while the LinkedIn profile of Himanshu Sharma, who is the Vice President of OBI, lists achievements like achieving Mission 272+ for the BJP and elections in other states.