NEW DELHI: In an indication of the scale of the impending digital electoral warfare in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the ruling BJP has expanded its cadre of social media soldiers, whose number has gone past 12 lakh. The saffron outfit has also trained all its MPs and MLAs in the use of social media platforms.
Seemingly aware that smartphones may swing the electoral fortunes of political parties in the next general elections, BJP chief Amit Shah is learnt to be giving top priority to holding conclaves of the social media volunteers during his visits to various states.
“The BJP now has over 12 lakh volunteers who are drawn from among engineers, doctors, chartered accountants, home makers, and even farmers spread across the country. They have been imparted rigorous training in the course of the last one year to effectively use social media platforms,” said a senior BJP functionary, who added that the volunteers mined resources from various portals to gather authentic data on achievements of the government schemes for dissemination among the people.