Strangers to political influence of social media

Sandeep Sharma

Social media has emerged as a new outlet for politicians to connect with their voters. Social media has not only potentially minimised their reliance on mainstream media but has also acted as an empowering tool for a candidate having no political background and finances to buy space in mainstream media. 

The BJP won two consecutive parliamentary elections in 2014 and 2019. The party’s success in the General Elections is attributed in part to the efforts of its IT cell in managing social media platforms. Similarly, there is evidence to support the claim that social media played a key role in forming (manipulating) British citizens’ opinion in favour of Brexit. The Arab Spring, as some political communication scholars note, would not have made its presence felt globally had the revolutionaries not used social media platforms to raise their voices. 

In this high time of social media, a candidate fighting elections having no or very little social media presence is an unimaginable political occurrence. But this is the reality in the ongoing by-elections to two Assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh. The candidates fielded by the BJP and the Congress are less innovative and active in using social media platforms. The young politicians’ low presence on social media, even after the fact that 53 per cent of the state’s population uses smart phones (as per Cyber Media Research) is thought provoking.  

Gangu Ram Musafir, former Assembly Speaker and Congress candidate from the Pachhad constituency of Sirmaur district, seems to have no Twitter and Instagram presence. However, there is a Facebook page with the username ‘GRMusafir’, which has more than 20,000 followers. The page is frequently updated, as checked on September 29, 2019. To reach this conclusion, ‘gangu ram musafir’ ‘GR Musafir’, ‘Gangu R Musafir’ keywords were used on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Similarly, Reena Kashyap, BJP candidate from the Pachhad constituency, is unavailable on Instagram and Twitter. However, she seems to have an unverified Facebook account with a friend list that contains a meagre 611 names as on September 29, the date her candidature was declared. Interestingly, Reena is also the co-convener of the BJP’s Mahila Morcha IT Cell. 

BJP’s Ashish Sikta from Pachhad, who was also in the race for the ticket, seems to be comparatively more active on social media. A Facebook account with user name AshishSikta’s has matured, as its friend count has reached the 5,000 mark. A Facebook page with the same name is followed by nearly 5,000 people. There is also a Twitter account with the same user name that has 2,000 followers and is quite frequently updated. After being denied the ticket, Sikta’s supporters have created Facebook pages and groups to express their disagreement and anguish. The page ‘We Support Ashish Sikta’ gained more than 700 followers within 24 hours of the BJP declaring Reena Kashyap’s candidature.  

The social media situation in the Dharamsala seat is not very different. Vijay Inder Karan, Congress candidate, has no Instagram account and is almost inactive on Twitter. A Facebook account in his name had 4,993 friends as on September 29. The keyword search with ‘VIKaran’ Vijayinderkaran’, ‘vijayikaran’ could not retrieve any additional page or account. On the other hand, BJP candidate from Dharamsala Vishal Nehria is comparatively more active on social media platforms. A Facebook account in Nehria’s name has reached the 5,000 friend mark and a page with a similar name is followed by more than 3,000 people. A Twitter handle with the user name @VishalNehria has more near 500 followers. 

Vishal Nehria as an exception has an active Instagram account and is followed by nearly 1,500 people. As on September 29, it had 56 posts.