New Delhi: With just about a month left before Gujarat votes to elect a new legislative assembly, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress are at it on social media again flooding Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp with witty posts, satirical memes and audio-visual capsules.
The battle for Gujarat has turned interesting with Congress back into the political reckoning after 22 years. Congress’s online campaign questioning development in Gujarat has BJP indeed worried. Started by Congress, a hashtag ‘Bhajapno vikas gando thayo chhey’ (BJP’s development has gone crazy) started trending on Twitter a month ago. It instantly became a super hit, with the number of ‘Vikas’ memes multiplying ever since.
It affected BJP to the extent that party vice president Amit Shah, in a rally in Ahmedabad recently, asked the youth to be cautious against Congress’s “vicious propaganda.” Earlier, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said BJP will successfully counter ‘Vikas Gando thayo che’ campaign.
Aping Congress, the opposition parties in the fray have decided to use similar online posts and memes. But the war of words in Gujarat has virtually turned it into a Narendra Modi versus Rahul Gandhi battle.
Modi’s policies of demonetisation, Goods and Services Tax (GST) and linking of Aadhar with all basic schemes have not gone down well with the people. By raising the issues of demonetisation and GST in his Gujarat campaign, Gandhi has been trying to take on Modi. For his part, the PM has pitched the December elections as a contest between dynasty and development.
Analysts believe it was bound to happen due to the leadership crisis at the state level in both the parties.
“The key campaigner for Congress is Rahul Gandhi and Bharatiya Janata Party’s Chief Minister in Gujarat, Vijay Ramniklal Rupani, is not that popular. BJP in Gujarat and other states has been solely dependent on Modi and his charm,” political analyst Rajiv Ranjan tells Gulf News.
Congress’s viral social media campaign has disturbed BJP ahead of polls in Gujarat. Some political analysts feel BJP may win the elections in the state but the opposition will definitely be stronger this time.
But there are others who feel if elections could be won by making fun of BJP, Congress would have made a government in Uttar Pradesh (UP) earlier this year. “Congress does not have any firm policies; just tweeting or mocking with jokes will not win Rahul Gandhi the election,” says Ranjan. “It may attract few tweeters, yes, but wont give much mileage to Congress. BJP is at least attempting to make the country free of black money, remove barriers to business by having one type of tax like GST. What did Congress do when they were in power? The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government did not take any decision, be it defence or on black money, all their ideas were on paper and corruption was their high point.”
As of now, the aggressive use of social media by Congress against BJP looks to be the best planned stunt for elections. Congress is now adopting “blame politics” rather than a constructive approach. In fact, it is paying BJP back in the same coin. But whether or not jokes and memes against each other by both parties would translate into votes in these elections is yet to be seen.
