Kollam: Riding on its performance in the local body elections, the Congress in Kerala is planning to strengthen its presence on social media, aiming to translate organisational momentum into digital influence ahead of the Assembly elections.

The plan is to build a robust social media network for the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and the United Democratic Front (UDF). While several senior leaders have sizeable online followings, the party’s centralised social media machinery has remained weak and fragmented.

The strategy involves coordinating individuals who manage the personal social media pages of Congress leaders, integrating them into a unified digital communication structure.

Ernakulam MP Hibi Eden was appointed chairman of the KPCC Digital Media Cell in November as part of efforts to revamp the party’s digital outreach. Following his appointment, the party has compiled a list of Congress leaders who are active on social media and has begun collecting ideas, feedback and content suggestions from them.

Sources said the party is also considering engaging a professional digital media agency to prepare campaign content ahead of the state Assembly elections. These digital “capsules” will be disseminated through grassroots-level KPCC and UDF social media pages to ensure wider reach and message consistency.

Criticism has been mounting within the party that the Congress social media wing has failed to become active despite repeated decisions by the KPCC to energise it. The issue has been discussed even at KPCC meetings. The inability to build organisational units down to the grassroots level within the digital media cell has remained the core of the criticism.

The post of KPCC Digital Media Cell convener has remained vacant for over a year following the exit of Dr P Sarin, who later joined the CPM. No replacement was appointed during this period.

As part of the November organisational reshuffle, the unit was renamed the Social Media Cell, with Hibi Eden taking charge as chairman. Party leaders maintained that the cell would undergo a complete reorganisation to improve efficiency and engagement.

Engagement levels on official Congress social media pages, measured through likes, comments and shares, remain low.