Himachal assembly by-polls: Congress announces candidates for 3 seats
The by-polls in six Assembly constituencies in the state are scheduled to be held on June 1 along with the Lok Sabha elections.
Hitting back at the Union Law Minister Hari Shankar Prasad over the allegation of aligning with the ‘dubious’ data firm, Cambridge Analytica, the Congress denied that it has any link with the firm.
Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala held a press conference in Delhi where he said that it was the BJP that had aligned with the said firm and took services of its India-based subsidiary Ovleno Business Intelligence Pvt Ltd ( OBI) to achieve the ‘Mission 272’ in the 2014 general elections. “This is a fake agenda and a white lie,” Surjewala said.
The OBI, however, lists both the BJP as well the Congress, besides the Janata Dal (United) as its clients on its website.
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The Congress also said that the BJP hired OBI during the assembly elections in four state — Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Delhi.
Cambridge Analytica is under scanner in many countries over allegations of stealing data of Facebook users and alleged use of bribes and sex workers to entrap politicians.
Earlier in the day, BJP spokesperson and IT and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad accused the Congress of having links with the ‘disgraced’ data firm, Cambridge Analytica.
Prasad alleged that the Congress resorted to data theft and data manipulation to win elections and questioned the role of the Cambridge Analytica in the social media management of Congress and party president Rahul Gandhi.
“Will the Congress Party now depend upon data manipulation and data theft to win elections?” he asked. Citing media reports, Prasad said bots were used to “artificially increase” the social media following of Rahul Gandhi.
He said Congress was posing a threat to the credibility of democratic values of the country.
Prasad also warned social media platforms like Facebook of ‘strong action’ if any attempt was made by them to influence the country’s electoral process through undesirable means.
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