Social media is important but keep feet on ground, Kunal says in post

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh , in a post on X on Saturday, said while social media had become very important, it was essential to have one's feet on the ground. "Unless one is a good worker, one cannot be a good leader", the post added.

Though Ghosh later clarified that his remarks were "apolitical" and based on "personal realisations", the post by Trinamool's official spokesperson is largely being read as an attempt to tell party workers to shun their over-reliance on social media and reach out to people more.

"Nowadays, Facebook, YouTube, social media are very important, but it is more important to keep one's feet on the ground. The mantra is people-to-people connect and public delivery. People are also very aware these days. They can easily make out what is mere publicity and what has been done for a larger good collectively. The fine balance gets disrupted, offset, if one does not blend loyalty for the party, organisational work, social work, and publicity. Unless one is a good worker, one can never be a good leader. This is not true for politics, but in every work sphere. Adept leadership is only blending and implementing work-life experiences at the right time," he wrote.

Trinamool may announce a party reshuffle, with CM Mamata Banerjee earlier this month asking all MLAs to send three recommendations for office-bearers to state power minister Aroop Biswas by Feb 25. The CM is also likely to address a party convention in early March at Netaji Indoor Stadium. Banerjee has indicated that the party will go solo in the 2026 assembly polls.

Ghosh's post also comes in the backdrop of several candidates with huge social media footprints losing in the Maharashtra and Delhi polls, unable to translate their online followers into votes.

Asked whether he was sending an oblique message to netas, Ghosh later told reporters: "There is no politics in it. This is a post based on personal realisations." When asked about the timing before the polls and whether his words were aimed at anyone, he said: "These are life realisations. Why will it be targeting anyone? Yes, social media, publicity are very important in politics, but so is understanding ground realities. I may say or post anything, but people will judge me on whether I am doing it in my personal work sphere. A worker becomes a mature leader handling various real-life experiences. And I have also made it clear in my post, it is not just in politics but in all work spheres."