Divya Spandana's Twitter, Instagram accounts appear deleted; Congress social media in-charge says she has not left party

Divya Spandana, head of the Congress social media wing, is believed to have deleted her Twitter and Instagram accounts. A search for her handles on the two websites gets redirected to pages that say the accounts do not exist. On Saturday, ANI reported that all the tweets were deleted from her Twitter account and her description did not have any mention of her post in the Congress. The report also said there was ambiguity about whether she was still a part of the party’s social media team, though was no confirmation from the Congress or Spandana. The Congress media department also declined to comment on Spandana’s accounts being deleted. “Your source is wrong,” Spandana told ANI when asked about whether she had left the party. [caption id=“attachment_6741511” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Divya Spandana’s handle is unresponsive on Twitter[/caption] Although her Twitter and Instagram accounts seem to have been deleted, her Facebook page is still active. Spandana has been credited with turning around the Congress’ social media presence. The BJP’s robust media cell and strong online presence is attributed as one of the reasons for the Congress’ heavy defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, in which the BJP-led NDA returned to power at the Centre with an even bigger mandate. Similar speculation around Spandana’s association with the party was doing the rounds  in October 2018 , when her Twitter account description had been taken down for a few hours. Her Twitter bio, which had read, “Actor, Former Member of Parliament and currently handles social media and digital communication for Congress,” was removed on 3 October but later added after reports on the change. The re-posted bio read: “Actor, Former Member of Parliament, currently handling Social Media & Digital Communications for the Congress party & I ❤️ it!” Spandana had told Times Now that she had not stepped down from her post in the Congress and was on leave then. She had blamed a “bug issue” for her missing Twitter bio. [caption id=“attachment_6741521” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Divya Spandana’s Instagram page isn’t available.[/caption] Her clarification had not stemmed the speculations flying thick and fast at the time. According to Zee News, Spandana had resigned from the post of the Congress communications in-charge to be given some other responsibility. Meanwhile, NDTV had speculated that the move hinted at strains within the party. A local news channel had reported that Nivedith Alva, a former journalist and a digital media professional, would take up her post in the party. However, none of these reports named their sources and an official confirmation was unavailable.