Rahul Gandhi's former aide Divya Spandana lashes out at Karnataka Congress leaders

In the latest development, former social media head of the Congress and actor Divya Spandana 'Ramya', who had disappeared from the political scene the last few years, alleged that she has been trolled and abused by several party members in Karnataka. Taking to Twitter, she posted several screenshots, saying that it all started with Congress state chief DK Shivakumar's statement.

She wrote, "After I quit, ‘she duped the congress of 8 crores & ran away’ was planted in the news esp Kannada channels in an attempt to destroy my credibility. I didn’t run away. I resigned for personal reasons. I certainly did not dupe the party of 8 crores. My mistake was staying silent."

The rift between the politicians started with Spandana's reaction to Karnataka Congress head DK Shivakumar's statement that Karnataka High Education Minister CN Ashwathnarayan met Congress leader MB Patil, 'seeking protection' from being questioned on public platforms in the Police Sub-Inspector recruitment scam. Spandana, a day later, had tweeted, "People across parties meet each other, go to functions, some even get married into families — I’m surprised @DKShivakumar would say this about @MBPatil who’s a staunch congressman. Shouldn’t the party be fighting elections as one unit?@INCIndia."

Divya Spandana slams Karnataka Congress leaders

In a string of tweets, Spandana has alleged that she has been trolled and abused because she responded to Shivakumar's statement. She posted a series of screengrabs, saying, "So the ‘office’ has circulated these messages among the congress leaders & volunteers asking them troll me. Save yourself the trouble- I’ll do it myself. @srivatsayb @DKShivakumar."

"Humble request to @kcvenugopalmp (K C Venugopal, AICC general secretary) to please clarify with the media about this whenever you’re in Karnataka next. The least you can do for me Venugopal ji, so I don’t have to live with this abuse and trolling for the rest of my life," she wrote. 

The messages shared by her and sent to her speaks volumes of her sudden disappearance as the national decades-old social media head. A tweet reads, "Where have you been all these years??? Why are you waking up now? Can you plz let the voters of Mandya know??" While another one stated, "You got into the party because of senior leaders in the party. You have no loyalty to the party or voters. Can you go back to the absconding state that you were in or delete you (your) accounts. I’m sure you have enough experience in this."

Coming out in support of Spandana, Congress MLA MB Patil, on May 12, said, "Congress is a party of internal democracy. Unwritten code of ethics exist in politics. Those were breached. Hence @divyaspandana, voiced her opinion in the best interest of party. Some in the party have spoken out of turn and demeaned her. She’s a former MP and has worked against all odds for the party."

"Whilst the KPCC president himself had asked all to end the discussion. Furthering it is uncalled for and detrimental to Karnataka 2023. I urge all partymen and women to end this here, and focus on the larger mission. Let’s work together," he concluded. 

The actor-turned-politican began her political journey in 2012 through the Youth Congress. After winning the Mandya Lok Sabha seat in 2013, she lost 2014's general elections when Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power. Spandana made headlines when she started heading Congress' digital team at the national level. However, she ended the job suddenly, announcing a 'break' from politics.

Image: Twitter/@divyaspandana/PTI