Rajasthan polls: All parties intensify campaigning on social media

Jaipur, Oct 9: The election date for Rajasthan has been announced. The state will decide its rulers on December 7 and the counting will be done on December 11. All parties have been campaigning aggressively for the election, not just on the ground but also on social media, including Facebook, Twitter and others.

According to an NDTV Khabar report, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has deployed information technology personnel in each of the state's 51,000 booths. Teams of 10 representatives have been set up at the Mandal level to keep a track on these IT personnel and besides, separate social media teams have been put into action at the district and state levels.

Hirendra Kaushik, BJP's social media in-charge in Rajasthan said the party has established connection with as many as 14.5 lakh people through WhatsApp. Also, each district has its own Facebook page that comes handy for public relations exercise. On Twitter, the BJP has links with 1.35 lakh people, the report said.

Congress also making full use of social media power

It said the Congress, which is otherwise a party known for its traditional ways of electioneering, has also taken to social media this time. The party has recently launched its Project 'Shakti' aiming to strengthen the grassroots connect and it is making use of this platform to connect to lakhs of youth, the report said. Media in-charge of Rajasthan state Congress committee Dr Archana Sharma said though they ignored it last time, they are focusing to utilise the power of social media fully this time.

The Aam Aadmi Party, which is also set to test the electoral waters in Rajasthan this time, will also deploy a social media manager for the campaigning of each contestant, the NDTV report added.

The Rajasthan elections this time will see 67 lakh more votes compared to the last time and most of them are youths and hence the political parties are keeping no stone unturned to attract them.