Raj Niwas has floated a tender to hire a firm to manage its social media handles at ₹1.5 crore annually, a move termed by Delhi Urban Development Minister and senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Saurabh Bharadwaj as a “conspiracy to influence next year’s Delhi Assembly election”.
Raj Niwas did not respoond to queries over the issue.
According to a notice dated August 1 and uploaded on the Raj Niwas website, the chosen company will manage social media handles of Lieutenant-Governor V. K. Saxena and his office, popularise their strategies for people’s welfare and check the dissemination of misinformation.
The company will also be tasked to engage popular influencers, with each of them having at least 50,000 followers on Instagram, Facebook or any other social media platform. “The influencers may be asked to attend events for Raj Niwas’ promotion as and when required by L-G Secretariat,” the notice said.
‘Unconstitutional move’
Mr. Bharadwaj termed the move “unconstitutional” and said the L-G wants to polish his image by “wasting taxpayers’ money”. “How shameful it is? Influencers will be called for events and asked to tell exaggerated stories about him,” he told reporters, adding that the L-G office “often makes false and baseless comments”.
“I want to know from whom did the L-G get permission for it? Did he get the Assembly to pass funds for this? Money is given to the L-G Secretariat to run his office, and not to improve his image,” he added. He also slammed the Finance Department, saying while essential civic services have been hit for want of funds, it cleared the budget for Raj Niwas’ promotion.