Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): With canvassing entering the last leg in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, political parties, mainly BJP and Congress are busy wooing voters. Along with traditional methods of canvassing, the parties have also become proactive on different social media platforms to create a favourable atmosphere for themselves.
With only three days left for polling, canvassing on social media is likely to intensify further. What is more interesting is that big wigs of BJP and Congress are posting their statements on social media accounts daily and often more than once. The war of words has gained momentum between Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Congress state president Kamal Nath on X, earlier Twitter. Every day both are attacking each other on X and asking questions on burning issues, trying to pin down each other.
CM has 9.1 million followers on his X account, while Kamal Nath has 1.4 million followers. Apart from this, both BJP and Congress are flooding other social media accounts such as WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram with their poll campaigns. For instance, BJP is posting all major political rallies held by its leaders on Facebook. It regularly posts speeches and gives live coverage of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda.
Moreover, it is also using social media platforms to popularise its recently released manifesto. Mainly, it is trying to highlight the Ladli Behana Yojana and tribal welfare vision on online media platforms. In comparison to all available social media platforms, BJP is using Facebook, which is the most popular social media platform in rural areas. The popularity of BJP on Facebook could be gauged from the fact that they have 1.6 million followers on their Facebook page.
Likewise, Congress is also focusing on social media campaigning along with traditional campaigning. Congress has 1 million followers on its Facebook account. Akin to its rival BJP, it is also posting a lot of campaigning material. It is giving live coverage of political rallies featuring Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Kamal Nath and AICC national president Mallikarjun Kharge on its Facebook page.
Likewise, it is also doing live streaming of political rallies of other leaders and assembly candidates as well. On X account, Congress has 1. 2 million followers and is more aggressive and is making scathing attacks on the BJP. If sources are to be believed then both major political parties have also roped in social media influencers mainly active on YouTube channels to create a favourable atmosphere for themselves in the state.
