Mar 25, 2018 08:24 PM IST | Source: Moneycontrol.com

Virtual campaigning takes centre-stage as Karnataka polls draw near

These parties use a mixture of party workers and social media professionals, harnessing the user base on Whatsapp, Youtube, Facebook and Twitter posts ahead of the Karnataka polls to turn the tables.

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The major political parties in Karnataka have geared up to leverage social media to its maximum potential for the upcoming Karnataka polls.

According to an Economic Times report, the significance of social media in campaigning was clearly well set up by the major political parties.

According to the report, Malleshwaram is set to be the command centre for social media activities for the Congress and the BJP, whereas the JD(S) operates out of Seshadripuram.

These parties use a mixture of party workers and social media professionals, harnessing the user base on WhatsApp, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter posts.

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The high penetration of the internet in Karnataka is crucial for campaigning online. According to Balaji Srinivas, the convener of the BJP's social media cell, close to 3 crore of the 4.9-crore voters have Internet access. There are 3.5 crore that have smartphones, 2.5 crore are on Facebook and 2.4 crore watch YouTube.

In UP, the BJP leveraged the popular social media by setting up IT centres in all the district headquarters. Close to 5,031 workers were trained in specially designed workshops on various IT and social media tools.

The party also created 10,344 groups which ended up reaching out to 15 lakh people. The BJP social media cell in Karnataka will have 23,000 WhatsApp groups created with close to 4500 people handling the party’s social media activities.

Their #BJP4UP twitter handle saw a following of 40,000. This evolved into a major communication vehicle during the campaign. The party also had four Facebook pages through which it reached out to 40 lakh people.

Although the Congress is currently the ruling party in Karnataka, the BJP has upped the ante on its social media campaign. The official Twitter handle of the BJP has close to 158,000 followers. This is close to five times the number of Twitter followers of the Congress’ Twitter handle, currently having 33,000 followers.

Nonetheless, according to the report, the social media cell run by the Congress that it can reach up to 12 lakh people. The party, in fact, has state, district, assembly and booth-level coordinators exclusively for social media.

Key political leaders themselves garner a strong presence on social media, and are going full throttle. As the day of polls draws nearer, sarcasm and acerbic comments are the norm, with leaders digging out the dirt on each other’s deeds, both past and present.

The Congress has come up with a Twitter campaign that looks back at the profile of Karnataka’s BJP leader B.S.Yeddyurappa in a series of graphics named 'Yeddyurappa For Dummies'

Not one to hold back, Yeddyurappa’s Twitter handle released a video with statistics that allege that the Congress government failed to meet its mandate.

The current Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah also managed to give a quick reply.

The recent moves by the Siddaramaiah government to give the Lingayats a separate minority status, and design a new flag for the state of Karnataka saw supporters and opposers engaging each other in a fierce Twitter war.

 


There is a flip side to this aggressive virtual campaigning. According to a Guardian report, the BJP tasted first tasted the fruits of its labour in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. A book chronicling the aggressive Twitter campaign of the BJP at the time said it used trolls to lambast journalists, minorities and liberals that opposed the mandate of the party.