Catch them young. That’s the buzzword at Darussalam, the Majlis headquarters.
The party has decided to reach out to the youth in a big way, particularly the first-time voters. It launched a different kind of a campaign – not door-to-door but college-to-college.
The Majlis leadership is targeting the youth in the 18-plus age group. It has trained youth to carry the message to their peer groups in degree, engineering, pharmacy and business management colleges in the twin cities.
The Majlis youth campaigners will deliver short speeches in the colleges highlighting the importance of exercising the franchise in the right direction.
“You are going to be part of the kingmaker process. You must cast your vote and ensure that the secular and deserving candidates win,” is how they will interact with the students. Of course, towards the end of their short address, the young campaigners will reveal their identity. “Yes, we are from the MIM,” they will say.
The campaign started on Monday from the party managed institutions like Deccan Engineering, Medical and MBA colleges. “We will take the permission of the principles and speak to the students,” says a Majlis leader.
The party estimates the number of social media users in the twin cities to be around 4 lakh, a big chunk of whom are the first-time voters.
The Majlis is already active on Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites. It plans to appeal to the youngsters to share its page with friends and download the new App of the party president, Asaduddin Owaisi.
The online presence of politicians, Mr. Asaduddin feels, is going to be crucial as it will leverage and influence the youth in a big way. And this election it is going to be an important tool in the Majlis campaign.
