New Delhi: From highlighting poll manifesto to attacking opponents, the social media is being used widely by candidates from all the three major political parties in fray in the elections to achieve greater connect with voters.
It is seemingly a triangular contest on all seven seats in Delhi, and Facebook, Twitter and Instagram platforms are coming as handy tools by party candidates to project their agenda. The BJP, Congress and the AAP, the three major parties are going all-out on the social media with polling round the corner, May 12.
From veteran Congress leader Sheila Dikshit to new entrants like Gautam Gambhir and boxer Vijender Singh, almost everyone in the reckoning is trying to harness maximum political advantage out of the digital platform.
Olympian medal-winner Vijender, who is making his political debut with this election, has been fielded by Congress from South Delhi up against sitting BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri and AAP’s Raghav Chadha.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra held an impressive roadshow for Vijender, Wednesday evening which was streamed live on his official Facebook account. He also shared pictures of the crowd taking selfies with Gandhi or himself, seeking to appeal to the youth voters, who are likely to play a crucial role in the polls.
Cricketer-turned-politician Gambhir fighting polls from East Delhi on a BJP ticket also shares videos and photos regularly to keep a connect with voters, more so the youth who consume a lot of news on politics through social media.
On his social media account, Gambhir had earlier shared a news report in which he had told a national daily that he had joined politics to ‘go beyond tweeting’.
A poster shared recently on his Facebook account, carries his image and the message – ‘Not here for picnic. Will show how work is done’.
Both debutant politicians share their canvassing schedule on Facebook and Twitter seeking maximum traction out of the medium.
Candidates are also using social media to highlight achievements of their respective parties as much as to hit out at opponents for maximum electoral gain.
Atishi contesting from East Delhi has shared accomplishments of the AAP government in Delhi in the education sector as well as images of star campaigner Swara Bhaskar, who is rooting for the Arvind Kejriwal-led party.
Senior Congress leader and New Delhi candidate Ajay Maken and sitting New Delhi MP Menakshi Lekhi have also sought to leverage maximum traction out of social media.
“My voters have made me victorious in three out of four re-elections from the same constituency! Reason is Simple-I never lose touch and am easily accessible for development works!,” Maken tweeted recently while sharing a video of a meeting with people in a locality.
Bhojpuri actor and BJP’s sitting North East MP Manoj Tiwari has also started to engage effectively with netizens as the polling date draws near.