Kozhikode District Collector earns politicians’ wrath for his Facebook activism

When he took over as the District Collector of Kozhikode, Prasanth Nair perhaps had little inkling that being active on the social media could earn him the wrath of politicians.

Ever since he took up the new assignment, Prasanth has been very active on Facebook and has launched many campaigns and projects through social media. As of now, Prasanth’s Facebook handle `DistrictCollectorKozhikode’ has more than 58,000 followers, including celebrities and stars.

He describes his Facebook page as “An informal platform of Kozhikode District Administration for citizens to discuss, interact and post innovative ideas & air their grievances(Open 24×7).”

As part of conducting open discussions and getting people’s feedback on the civic issues, the Collector used to post his views and comments on the page, urging citizens to express their opinions.

His campaign to improve the facilities of Kuthiravattom mental hospital and a recent project, Operation Sulaimani, to eliminate hunger by providing food free of cost to the needy had grabbed national attention. His latest venture ‘Project 4N’, an initiative to fix potholes on roads, has also got wide traction.

In a recent campaign, he requested netizens of the city to post on his official Facebook page pictures of those who urinate in public places so that action can be taken against them. In a satiric photo contest named ‘Trimoothri,’ the Collector promises prizes for those who capture the ‘best’ three photographs.

But his growing popularity on the social media was watched with suspicion by politicians who feared whether the Collector would outshine the political class. Their main worry is that with panchayat elections round the corner, the Collector’s hold on the netizens could damage their electoral prospects.

The first salvo was fired by Kozhikode District Congress Committee President K C Abu. Launching a scathing attack on the Collector at the KPCC Executive Committee meeting, Abu reportedly said: “Prasanth is very active on social media, which is just a show-off strategy. At this age, I cannot access Facebook or Whatsapp to contact him as he never picks up our phone calls. We cannot go ahead with the Panchayat elections with him as the Collector.”

The political spectrum was divided on the Collector’s social media initiatives. While some politicians joined Abu in lambasting the Collector, some others like Congress MLA V T Balram came out in support of the Collector.

“Leaders should walk beyond the time, if that is not possible please don’t be behind it always. For a politician every medium through which he can communicate directly to the public without any middlemen is a weapon. You don’t become old because of your age, instead your age-old thoughts can make you an old man,” Balram retorted in a Facebook post.

After the Collector came under fire from politicians, many social media users extended their overwhelming support for the collector, with the hashtag #WithYouPrasanth.

What price the Collector will have to ultimately pay for his Facebook activism remains to be seen.

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