Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (ANK)
Mangaluru, Feb 25: Lavanya Ballal is a RJ-turned-politician, national level social media coordinator and spokesperson of Congress.
She has been always been more than active after taking over the reins of Congress’ national social media unit.
Lavanya was part of an exclusive interview with Daijiworld editor-in-chief Walter Nandalike in Public Challenge on Daijiworld TV 24*7.
Excerpts:
Q: You hail from Mangaluru and are well versed in Tulu and Kannada. You have also been a part of National TV debate where you strongly agree with the ideologies of Congress. What is the reason for you to join Congress?
A: I come from a family where people have strong political opinions. I was speaking with one of my friends about the injustice in the society today and he advised me to join the Mahila Congress. Today what our country is and the freedom people are enjoying it is because of Congress. The party has always taken its stand against injustice prevailing in the society. It has now been over three years since I joined Congress.
Q: You belong to the prestigious Ballal-Jain family, would you like to tell us more about your family and your childhood.
A: I was born in Bantwal and studied at SVS College. I got married at a young age given that in the Jain community girls get married off at an early age. The support of my community for my growth is immense. It is quite rare for a Jain woman to be active on social platforms.
Q: Your previous profession was working as an RJ for Radio Mirchi in Mangaluru. You have worked hard to establish the Mangaluru station. Was it your first choice to become an RJ?
A: Not necessarily, I never planned to be an RJ. It was a stroke of luck that I became an RJ and continued in the profession for 13 long years. However, during the 2018 assembly election, I decided to quit being an RJ and chose to become a politician and joined Congress.
Q: It has been just three years since you joined Congress, and although you are young the party has trusted with responsibilities of becoming the national level social media coordinator and state-level spokesperson. What is the scope of your job?
A: The biggest responsibility is to convey the message of my party. It deals with responding to what Congress has done in the last 70 years. We try to debunk the misinformation concerning the party and work towards conveying the truth. We want to convey what Congress stands for and detail our works.
Q: Handling social media is one of the biggest responsibilities. On one side you have the BJP who is very aggressive and then there is Congress who is not that aggressive. Later, Rahul Gandhi was seen to be quite active on social media. Now you are the one who handles the Twitter and Facebook accounts where you possibly see a lot of criticism, how do you face it?
A: The main motive of the trolls is to criticise you by abusing on social media and try to test your temperament and silence you, something which we should understand. It is necessary to ignore such comments and never stoop to their level. It is better not to respond to abusive comments. What we need are stronger cyber laws.
Q: Is the Congress social media account aggressive now?
A: Yes definitely, we have worked a lot. Ramya has brought in a lot of changes. I have not met Ramya post the assembly elections, but she is definitely in the party.
Q: Congress lost power in 2018, There was a coalition government with JD(S) for over a year, but now Congress is in the opposition and the recent Delhi election, the party failed to garner any vote. Were you never tempted to join BJP, has no one invited you? Do you feel Congress is a sinking boat?
A: Congress is like a sea, there is no end to it and it is not something that will sink. When opportunity comes we will be strong. In politics winning or losing is common, we believe in ideologies. Yes, there was an invitation from the regional party as well as the national parties.
Q: During the assembly elections, you have worked a lot in social media and visited every constituency. But, that effort bore no fruit, what is the reason behind the loss of the Congress?
A: We have failed in conveying about our works among the public and people were looking for something new. BJP was involved in an aggressive campaign and spent more money on marketing. The BJP's marketing funds on a national-level are huge.
Q: What is your and the Congress' stance on CAA?
A: Congress has always opposed to the laws which target one particular community. We have been following the constitution and we have preserved it for 70 years. The CAA is not only against the Muslims but also against the uneducated and SC/ST. There is a lot of confusion in it, no clarity about which department is handling the process. The central government has no answer for it while they desperately need to address it.
Q: Due to the CAA protest there was Shaheen Bagh controversy and recently Amulya Leona raised a pro-Pakistan slogan, Will the Congress criticize it?
A: We condemn this, there was no need to raise a pro-Pakistan slogan, what is the connection with Pakistan it is just a neighbouring country. We need to focus internally. What was the need to say ‘Pakistan Zindabad’?
Q: In Karnataka, BJP's ABVP are very strong and are in the news constantly. However, the Congress youth wing NSUI, the student wing and the Youth Congress is rarely on the news.
A: NSUI has been silent since last one year and the Youth Congress is also turning silent. But, there is a need to strengthen the youth wing in the state.
Q: These days fake news spread faster, especially during elections. It is hard to find out what the truth is and what is not. What is your opinion on this, how do you tackle this, how much Congress believes in false news?
A: As much as 98 per cent of people forward news without reading. It is shocking that we do not raise questions. Even the educated are becoming a victim of false news which is hard to understand.
Q: Recently during the Mangaluru police firing incident, two lives were lost. We know that there has been appeal made with the Human Rights Commission. What is the current status of it?
A: Two innocent lives have been claimed because of the Mangaluru police firing. We had appealed to the State Human Rights Commission and the hearing was scheduled to be on December 31. We were asked to come up with the necessary information and the next hearing was scheduled on February 4 in which the family of the victims was also present. The National Human Rights Commission believes that the anti-CAA protest incident that occurred in the country and all the other cases on it will be heard at Delhi. There will be no separate hearing in Bengaluru, however, we have an option to approach the high court or Supreme Court and request that the hearing for Karnataka should take place in Karnataka itself.
Q: In the district or state it is very rare for women to enter politics. What do you think can motivate women to enter this field?
A: Women should enter politics. Whenever the government frames the law there should be female opinion as every law will affect her equally. In our party there is scope, the ideas put forth will be encouraged and the platform to have your voice heard also is presented.
Watch full interview: