BJP is Scouring Social Media Profiles to Select 'Volunteers' to Meet Amit Shah
Raipur: An invite has been doing the rounds in e-mails, Facebook messages and WhatsApp accounts of select people in Chhattisgarh, urging them to fill up a form if they want to meet BJP president Amit Shah in a closed-door meeting. The recipients are not selected randomly; they have been approached after a careful scanning of their social media accounts. Taken into consideration are the frequency of their posts on social media, 'like'-ability and reach.
The BJP supremo is expected to meet these 'volunteers' at a social media volunteer meet October 12 in Raipur. This is part of Shah’s election strategy in Chhattisgarh, where he has given the local leadership a target of 65 seats.
Shah is addressing a gathering of women organised by the Mahila Morcha and the Durga Vahini in Bhilai on Friday.
This is the first time such individualised, specific strategies are being employed in a state election in Chhattisgarh, where the BJP president is directly interacting with carefully chosen core constituents who in turn are likely to become canvassers for the party.
The WhatsApp forward urging active social media users to sign up for the social media volunteers' meet with Amit Shah.
Social media ranks very high in the BJP's scheme of things, especially in the run-up to the 2019 parliamentary elections. This was evident in a similar meeting in Rajasthan last week, where Shah said, "We can keep making messages go viral, whether they are real or fake, sweet or sour." Citing the example of a social media volunteer from Uttar Pradesh who posted that “Akhilesh had slapped his father,” he said that such posts are not be encouraged but it “did its work as people believed that if Akhilesh could not respect his own father, what will he do for the state?”
A screenshot of the form.
Social media messaging assumes greater significance in Chhattisgarh, where the government last month began distributing free mobile phones with free data for six months. More than 45 lakh handsets are to be distributed under the scheme, costing the state exchequer more than Rs 1500 crore. The government has roped in Reliance Telecom for free data and Micromax for handsets. All major platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and WhatsApp have been preloaded, the best part being that the ruling party gets to know the phone numbers of all such data users.
The social media warriors have now to just go out and win it for Shah after taking his guru mantra on the October 12.
Neeraj Mishra is a senior journalist who has covered elections in central India for more than two decades.
The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
