Shankersinh Vaghela unfollows Rahul Gandhi on Twitter

Senior Congress leader Shankersinh Vaghela has unfollowed all party leaders on social media. The decision drew more attention as it came ahead of Congress' state cyber meet in Ahmedabad on Sunday. He unfollowed senior party leaders including Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel and GPCC president Bharatsinh Solanki, on Twitter, sending the political corridors in the State abuzz.
Vaghela gave the meet a miss despite being mentioned as one of the leaders who would guide the party's cybercell leaders. Speculation is rife that Bapu is making his disappointment with the party high command known through this move. The state is slated to go to polls this year, but infighting among senior party leaders has gained intensity. Vaghela has reportedly been pressurising the high command to declare him as the CM candidate. However, on Wednesday, party's state in-charge Ashok Gehlot said Congress will not project any chief ministerial candidate in Gujarat.
Vaghela is popular on social media. His verified account on Facebook has garnered 9,09,334 likes while his verified Twitter account @Shankersinh- Bapu has 32,900 followers. Confirming the unfollowing, his online media manager Parthesh Patel said, "We unfollowed all leaders from Bapu's Twitter handle on Saturday evening after receiving instructions from Bapu." Sources said, "Bapu had been following leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Ahmed Patel, Bharatsinh Solanki, Shaktisinh Gohil, Arjun Modhwadia, Tushar Chaudhary as well as Indian National Congress on Twitter till Saturday. He was following 30 accounts, which dropped to zero. Now, Bapu's official twitter handle has 32.9 K followers but he has zero following."

Asked about the un-following and absence of Bapu at the cyber meet, GPCC president Bharatsinh Solanki said, "I can only comment on the issue once I talk to him. Regarding his absence, he had informed Congress state IT cell chairman Rohan Gupta about his prior engagements." Meanwhile, BJP took a dig at the ongoing controversy. "This incident proves that Congress's leadership is not able enough to be followed. Specially, a leader like Rahul Gandhi who made the party lose 28 elections," said BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya. Mirror tried to contact Shankersinh, but he was unavailable for comment. He inaugurated ahospital in Bayad and attended a programme in Kapadvanj on Sunday.
Use social media for national unity: Ahmed Patel
Social media is not a tool to exploit technology but a tool for strengthening national unity, said senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel at cyber meet organised by Congress at GU conventional hall on Sunday. Attacking BJP, Patel said, "BJP play with emotions of people and collect votes. Now, they have also started collecting votes through EVMs. But truth about it will be revealed in time." GPCC chief Bharatsinh Solanki said, "I think Congress should spend 50% of poll publicity budget on social media as it has become an important platform."