Congress, BJP fighting Gujarat war via videos on social media campaign

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat BJP’s Facebook and Twitter pages on November 11 launched a video with new hashtag #ModiCheNe (Modi is there) where two youths – engineering graduates – give the metaphor of a ceiling fan with three blades. The youths argue that the ceiling fan can only function if all the blades are of the same material and not if it is of different material – alluding to leaders representing three different castes (Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakor and Jignesh Mevani) 'dancing to tunes of one party' in Gujarat that have no interest whether the 'fan' (metaphor for Gujarat) functions or not. In the end, one youth asks another not to worry as ‘Modi Che Ne!’ (Modi is there). It was the second video in a week using the same slogan.

With about a month left before polls, the two warring parties on Gujarat’s political turf – BJP and Congress – are not leaving any stone unturned to woo voters through social media. By the trend so far, videos from both sides are a hit on Facebook and Twitter whereas tiles with facts and figures are widely circulated on WhatsApp along with videos for the maximum impact.

From November 6 to 12, BJP posted 43 videos and Congress hit back with the same number of videos. Social media analysts see a specific trend. BJP launched the second ‘Hu Chu Vikas’ video on October 31 which has been viewed 2.1 million times. With the video, BJP focused on its star campaigner Narendra Modi. The earlier video had talked about infrastructure and development projects in the state.


"On the other hand, in the last one week, the most viewed videos from Congress include Rahul Gandhi visiting ‘tiki’ stone workers in Surat (284k), Dr Manmohan Singh’s speech on demonetization (144k), Gandhi’s visit to diamond polishing unit (142k) and his interaction with traders in Surat (121k),” said a social media analyst from Ahmedabad.

"While BJP is focusing on Modi, Congress relies on Rahul Gandhi to rally the voters,” he said, adding that all major conferences and rallies are now shown live on social media. A recent video that surfaced on social media imitated BJP’s ‘barber shop’ video with the same setting where the protagonist identifies himself as ‘Pakko Gujarati.’ The video however has not been posted on Congress’ social media accounts.

Propaganda
The hashtag war has also intensified with #DhanyavaadMotaSaheb (targeting PM Modi) being used to give backhanded compliments to Modi for his policies. Rahul Jawab Aape (Rahul (Gandhi) Must Answer) on the other hand talks about alleged injustices done to Gujarat during UPA rule. Both the parties are also actively using user connect tools such as Twitter Townhall and Facebook Live. On November 6, technocrat Sam Pitroda discussed ‘People’s Manifesto’ on Facebook whereas BJP national president Amit Shah and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj conducted Twitter Townhall in October.

Viral war
The first major ‘Vikas’ campaign video featuring Gujarati film actor Hitu Kanodia was uploaded on October 19. The video talks about major infrastructure projects taken up under the BJP government. On the same day, Gujarat Congress upped the ante with a video asking why was the announcement of election dates being delayed even as projects worth crores were being dedicated and announced in Ahmedabad and Vadodara. Soon after, a series of videos with the hashtag #ManifestoofJumlas was launched questioning government claims in sectors such as education, agriculture, industry, irrigation and so on. Analysts pointed out that WhatsApp is much more effective in reaching out to target audiences compared to other social media sites and both the parties are circulating messages with facts and figures and videos targeting each other. They added that issues of national politics are also being discussed actively during discussions on Gujarat polls.