Editorial
Ascribing BJP’s historic mandate in the last parliamentary polls to its vigorous online campaign, the other political outfits in Maharashtra have started liberally spending money on social media to reach out to the masses on the eve of the state Assembly elections.
The NCP, fearing huge anti-incumbency factor, is using social media to display their achievements in 15 years of power in the state.
"We have understood the power of social media as it is the best way to reach out to youths, who account for nearly 55 per cent of India's electorates. NCP has started using this medium widely now to reach out to our voters," party's chief media co-ordinator Ravikant Varpe told a news agency.
The NCP has deputed a team of specialized people to constantly monitor and offset any negative trend towards the party, Varpe said.
"The media cell guarantees that we mend our faults and rectify to remove the detrimental perception in the minds of electorates," he said. NCP is moving gingerly, taking special care to maneuver the content and timing of television advertisements to counter those by rival political parties, he said. "Parties are misusing TV to spread canards against them.”
The political adversaries are using TV to publicize only the negatives of the state. They say the state has poor growth rate and that we did nothing when we were in power. But the people have every right to know what the truth is. "Our ads will dispel this and show how Maharashtra has developed economically and progressed on social indices in the last decade of our governance," Varpe said.
The saffron party – BJP too not leaving any stone unturned, is hauling its social media strategy to a new high with an 'election committee' war room set up, that works round the clock and sends messages of any development happening in the party to the voters.
The Congress, post colossal thrashing in LS polls, is now adopting an aggressive posture for the party ahead of the state Assembly elections. "There are 58 district Congress offices in the state. In each district we have a team of social media experts’ incharge of Facebook and WhatsApp. In some districts we have people keeping a watch on Twitter and YouTube as well.
