Elections in India – Social media, the most powerful tool

Elections in India – Social media, the most powerful tool

The world’s largest democracy, India goes into elections this month. Spanning over a month long, split in 7 phases it is crucial in determining the new parliament and who it elects as the next Prime Minister.

The sitting government helmed at the Center by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He faces the main the opposition party the Congress, who is currently projecting Rahul Gandhi as the next Prime ministerial candidate. Rahul Gandhi comes from a lineage of former Prime Ministers of the country including Jawahar Lal Nehru the first ever Indian Prime Minister.

Not only is this election crucial for India but also for the entire world. India has long remained friendly with both Russia and the United States of America and is key to developing stronger relations in the region.

In 2014, the then opposition the BJP capitalized on the anti incumbency factor plaguing the Congress party. They discovered the use of the Internet and various social media to spread awareness within the people about the various scams indulged in by the previous govt.

This time around, social media has undoubtedly emerged as the most potent campaigning tool for all parties involved. While big political figures use Twitter to directly connect to their followers, others have come to use both Facebook and Whatsapp for furthering their message across the masses.

In these troubled times, Democracy is emerging as a privilege in many countries. On May 23^rd, the peoples mandate will decide the next government for the world’s largest democracy.