Nagaland, Meghalaya CMs ramp up pre-poll social media presence
STRATEGY Response to posts of ministers led Zeliang, Sangma to take up digital approach
Politicians in India are usually accused of forgetting their voters and their problems once the elections are over. But these days social media gives them an option of staying connected.
With assembly elections approaching in their states, chief ministers of Nagaland and Meghalaya have become active on social media platforms to stay connected and communicate with voters.
Nagaland chief minister TR Zeliang launched his official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts last month. He is the first CM from the state to do so.
His counterpart in Meghalalaya, Congress’s Mukul Sangma, joined Twitter in July and started a new Facebook page in August.
Zeliang’s decision was based on the tremendous response generated by the social media posts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union ministers like Sushma Swaraj and Suresh Prabhu who are very active on Twitter.
“Knowing the impact social media can create, he wants to connect more with the people and know their views about the govto ernment and its policies,” said an officer with the CM’s office.
Zeliang personally tweets and posts on Facebook and also reads all comments and responses. But there is a team as well which monitors the accounts and keep apprising the chief minister.
Many complaints by social media users about the bad condition of roads in Nagaland prompted him to call a meeting of several departments last month and instruct them to take action.
“I am deeply concerned to see the deplorable road condition of our state. I have seen your reactions on my page and as the head of the state I will make it my mission to address these concerns,” Zeliang wrote on Facebook last month.
In Meghalaya, with the BJP launching a serious attempt to form a government, Sangma is tweeting and retweeting his government’s reports about the Centre’s policies
Some retweets include former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan’s interview to a new channel about demonetisation and a report in a business daily on how Modi government’s policies have adversely impacted the agriculture sector.
Not surprisingly, Sangma doesn’t follow the PM on the micro-blogging site.
“In Meghalaya there is strong anti-incumbency against the present government. Maybe the launching of social media accounts by the CM is an attempt woo voters. But since most voters aren’t on these platforms one can’t be sure whether the strategy will be successful,” said Patricia Mukhim, editor of The Shillong Times.
While Sangma has over 10,700 followers on Twitter nearly 19,000 like and follow him on Facebook. Zeliang on the other hand has just 388 followers on Twitter and nearly 9,000 on Facebook.
Among the 23 accounts he follows on Twitter are the President of India, PM, several other union ministers and chief ministers of BJP-ruled Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur.
Zeliang’s party Naga Peoples Front is part of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance, an anti-Congress regional front, and the saffron outfit is part of the ruling coalition in Nagaland.
Officials close to the Nagaland CM insist the coming election had nothing to do with the social media accounts and it was done to “dispel the negativity, rumours and propaganda ...”
Significantly, while Sangma and Zeliang are getting active on social media, Lal Thanhawla, Congress CM of Mizoram— another state which is going to polls next year---doesn’t have a presence on these platforms.