Rajkot: A BJP candidate showed the power of social media by winning the Jamnagar Municipal Corporation (JMC) election despite being rendered bedridden due to a road accident.
Just two days before he got the ticket to contest from ward 7, Gopal Sorathiya met with an accident that left him bedridden with plaster in both legs. Knowing that it would be impossible for him to go door to door for campaigning, Sorathiya unleashed an aggressive social media campaign and reached out to maximum voters.
He prepared a recorded speech and sent them to 10,000 people. A text message was circulated to as many as 9,000 voters on Whatsapp while 30,000 others were sent by sms.
“Voters expect candidates to contact them in person, but I was unable to walk. So, I took the help of social media to reach my voters and I am fortunate that I could convince them to vote for me,” Sorathiya told TOI.
“The party workers used to connect with me and voters through video calling and I appealed to them for a vote,” he added.
Sorathiya had contested the election in 2015 too and has been working for the party since 2010. He is a resident of ward number 8 but got a ticket in ward number seven. “The voters were new, but the social media campaign worked,” he said.