As the election date draws closer, the social media campaigns of each of the two major parties in Uttarakhand — the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — has started projecting its candidates as heroes and those of the other as villains on social media.
With campaigning nearing its end and tactics for engaging voters through digital media waning, videos projecting Chief Minister Harish Rawat as the “saviour of Uttarakhand” have lit up the online space. They have managed to engage voters with a traditional hero-villain narrative in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is projected as the villain and Mr. Rawat the hero.
The BJP, however, is keeping up with the online race on views, likes and shares by attacking Mr. Rawat in its cartoons and posters using the hashtag #PolkholUttarakhand. The Congress, too, is attacking Mr. Modi via #dhol_ki_poll.
Hit videos
While the BJP boasts of its “social media strategy”, it is struggling to combat the videos that have been projecting Mr. Rawat as “Bahubali” — the hero of the eponymous film that was a massive hit.
Soon after the “Bahubali” video, a “Rowdy Rawat” video, which appears to take its name from the Hindi film Rowdy Rathore , where too Mr. Rawat is shown as the hero and Mr. Modi as the villain, has started doing the rounds on social media.
The head of the Congress’ 35-strong IT war room here, Amarjeet Singh, said the party was “using social media to highlight the achievements of the Rawat government and trying to make the online campaign a positive one”.
However, with many areas in the State having low Internet connectivity, the digital campaigns of both parties fail to reach people in far-flung areas.
“Reaching out to the people remains a challenge but we have instructed the [Congress] party workers to try and gain access to the internet at least once a day and use social media to reach out to people,” said Konark Dixit, member of the Congress’ IT Cell.
Traditional way
While the Congress seems to have scored high with its online campaign, the BJP’s campaign has taken the lead on the ground.
With hoardings and posters showing labourers, women and schoolchildren appearing alongside flashing campaign one-liners such as Sarkar badalne ki tayyari (the State is readying for change), the BJP has managed to capture eyeballs.
The Congress has fewer and simpler hoardings with Mr. Rawat pleading to be voted to power.
Also, the Congress’ candidates still await campaign material (caps, flags, posters). “The party has issues with funds and the situation will get better in a day or two,” a source within the Congress told The Hindu .
