Political Parties Deploy Social Media to Woo the Voters

BANGALORE: The polling date drawing closer in most of the major states in India; there are hardly any strategies left that politicians or political parties have not applied to win votes. From street plays and musical performances to interactive sessions over a cuppa are some of the unusual, yet impactful, methods politicians are employing to catch the voter’s imagination. Among all the strategies, the virtual world like social networking sites too comes handy for the politicos to drive the voters towards their parties.

The digital age has changed the game and this seems evident even among politicians, as they are involved in their digital campaigns. Kumar Vishwas of Aam Aadmi Party said "Not just our central team, even our candidates have online support groups they interact with regularly. When a five-year-old's rape case wasn't being registered by the police, the candidate from the area got people together with a single message. They picketed outside the police station until an FIR was filed," reports TNN.

Ankit Lal, the social media head of the Aam Aadmi Party added "Social media is a very important communication tool that helps us draw fence-sitters into our fold." According to the study by the IRIS Knowledge Foundation and the Internet and Mobile Association of India, social media is most likely to impact 160 Lok Sabha seats. In addition, the Association for Democratic Reforms that act as the watchdog of political parties is also in the digital race as they introduced a mobile app known as Election Watch Reporter.

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