THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the poll heat on, the campaign strategists of mainstream political parties are giving final shape to the game plan to be adopted on social media. According to political parties, compared to the 2014 general election, cyberspace provides myriad opportunities especially to reach out to new-gen voters and thus forms an integral part of the election campaigning process.
Meanwhile, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Kerala, said necessary directions have already been given to the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) at the state and district level to closely follow the messages and memes being circulated through social media platforms.
“The campaign process has undergone tremendous change. With the new gen voters hooked to social media platforms, a special strategy is needed to attract them,” a social media strategist associated with the CPM told Express. According to him, necessary directions have already been given to the team handling the social media of the party to turn the campaign mode on in platforms like Facebook, Twitter, ShareChat, Tik Tok and others.
“Other than that, we are giving shape to special memes targeting the opposition parties and their candidates within the permissible limit of the Model Code of Conduct,” said the strategist. At the same time, the Indian National Congress’ social media strategist said to monitor the overall campaigning process a war-room will soon be opened at the KPCC headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram. The war-room which will be under the direct control of the AICC will also have the facility to stay in touch with the candidates of 20 constituencies.
“Special attention is being given to social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others. Here, we will not only share state-specific issues, but also local issues. Other innovative ideas, including live interaction with candidates, are also on the cards,” said the strategist.
Meanwhile, the BJP’s social media campaigning team said while the main agenda will be to highlight the achievements and development projects of Narendra Modi, priority is also there to come out with memes against opposite parties and candidates. They also added they had already started campaigning on social media platforms.
However, Jeevan Babu who is the joint secretary and joint Chief Electoral Officer said, “When compared to the 2014 general election, new challenges are there in front of the Election Commission. It is in this backdrop the candidates were asked to furnish the details of their social media accounts. It has also been mandated to seek pre-certification before posting advertisements on social media. If we receive complaints regarding specific memes or messages or groups on social media, we will act upon the same.”