Odisha: Parties, leaders make net gains in Covid-19 season

BHUBANESWAR: YouTube Live, Webinar, Google Meet, Zoom… these were once the purview of software professionals and the tech smart. But thanks to Covid-19, they are now common parlance. With most professionals working from home, meetings are now held on many such web platforms and our politicians aren’t immune to them either. Whether it is to connect with the masses, or hold discussions with office-bearers, our leaders have jumped onto the bandwagon.
Academic-turned-politician Sasmit Patra said things have changed rapidly in the past three months following the Covid-19 crisis.
Patra, a BJD Rajya Sabha member and party spokesperson, used to move from one news channel to another to represent his party on prime time shows. But these days he uses Skype, WhatsApp video or other platforms to connect with the TV anchors to present his and the BJD’s views.
“Instead of addressing press conferences on a regular basis, we record our views and send it to the media via WhatsApp or use our individual social media handles to convey our messages. Even when we address press conferences, we request that our workers watch it on YouTube Live or Facebook Live,” said the 40-year-old Patra.
Not just young politicians like Patra, veterans like state food supplies minister Ranendra Pratap Swain (67) also uses various social media platforms to connect with the people.
Swain not only engages with his constituents but also takes help of social media for official work, while talking to party MLAs, civil society members and journalists. He also attends meetings virtually.
“The fight against Covid-19 will continue for a long time. We cannot ask people to gather for political meetings or rallies because of the social distancing norms. So, we have to take the help of social media and other web platforms to stay in touch with the people,” Swain said.
Leaders of principal opposition party BJP are way ahead when it comes to using technology to carry out different activities. Union home minister Amit Shah recently addressed a virtual rally on YouTube Live, which the party leaders claimed was a huge success in Odisha.
“Social media and web platforms are being used not only to reach out to party workers during the lockdown, but to also monitor the various activities of the party like feeding the needy and helping the poor. When Shah addressed the virtual rally, it reached around one crore people,” said state BJP president Samir Mohanty.
Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan held a series of meetings with party leaders from New Delhi through video-conference to monitor various activities.
State Congress president Niranjan Patnaik also endorsed the web platforms as the best medium to reach out to the people. “When the AICC organized the Speak Up India programme, we had set a target of connecting to at least 10,000 people from each parliamentary constituency. It was amazing to note that around 10 lakh people had joined the campaign,” said Patnaik, highlighting the reach of the internet.