Parties bet big on social media, data analytics for 2019 poll campaign

NEW DELHI: Election 2019 will be an intense, high-stakes tussle for power like all others but with one difference in a first, it is likely to be as hotly contested in the virtual world as in the real one with parties already busy getting their social media warriors battle-ready.

Social media played a key role in propelling the BJP to power in 2014, but is set to take on a different dimension altogether in 2019 with the opposition led by the Congress getting their arsenal ready to combat the ruling party's formidable cyber army.

War rooms are getting ready and thousands of volunteers being trained in data analytics and communication through digital platforms as parties, including not just the Congress and the BJP but also smaller players like the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Communist Party of India- Marxist (CPI-M), prep for the electoral battle ahead.

The Congress, which seems to have learnt its lessons from 2014, is scaling up its operations to challenge the BJP on a front which has been the saffron party's forte.

The process to widen the Congress' digital presence started a long time ago and digital war rooms have already been set up in every state, said the party's social media department head Divya Spandana.

"We have a (social media) unit in every state and now we are going down to districts. Since it's digital, everybody is already connected. Everybody has data on their phone and everything is managed through the state teams," Spandana told PTI.

Last week, Congress president Rahul Gandhi put out a Facebook post inviting people to fill out a customised form to improve the party's communications.

The party also shared a Whatsapp number and asked users to connect on the platform. The BJP, the first party to realise the potential of social media, is still formidable in the digital space with a robust organisation ready to face the opposition's challenge.

It has approximately 1.2 million volunteers, an ever increasing network, said BJP'S national information and technology in-charge Amit Malviya. "BJP'S social media strategy relies on its well trained cadre, who are adept at using the medium for political communication, and committed volunteer network," Malviya told PTI.

The Congress hopes to match up.

Spandana, who is credited with the turnaround in the party's popularity online, said a "significant number" of people was working in the social media team.

The team will be further strengthened in the run up to the 2019 polls, she asserted.

The "social media warriors" are fully geared for the elections, she said, adding that the challenge would be to counter BJP'S "misuse" of digital presence to "spread fake news".

The Congress is not alone in realising the importance of social media to checkmate the BJP.

Even the CPI (M), which has relied on traditional outreach initiatives in the past, is looking to expand its digital presence.

The party's social media team coordinator Pranjal said 2019 would be fought in the digital space and on the ground as most parties are looking to match the challenge posed by the BJP.

"We started quite late when it comes to social media. Actually it was in 2014 that we started realising that we need to go for it. I think over the last two years, we have covered large ground," he said.