BENGALURU: Campaigning by political parties switched from rallies and roadshows to social media platforms, and continued a day ahead of polling day in Karnataka on Tuesday.
Cutting across party lines, several political party leaders and workers shared posts about their party’s promises on social media platforms, persuading citizens to vote for them. The list included Congress, BJP, JDS, Aam Aadmi Party and independents. Congress leaders uploaded multiple posts using #5GuaranteesPratigne, while #ByeByeBJP was trending on Twitter.
Preeti Gehlot, nodal officer, Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC), Chief Electoral Office, Karnataka, said the EC recorded 63 complaints against all political parties who were found violating the model code of conduct and campaigning on social media platforms. Ninety per cent of the complaints were suo motu in nature, and were made after due vigilance by the MCMC team, she added.
The 48-hour-long silent period prior to elections in India is a practice to give breathing time to citizens who are showered with party promises, manifestos and election-related pledges prior to the polls. The break allows citizens to take an unbiased decision and not get swayed by any political party or leader, according to Election Commission (EC) officials, Gehlot said.
Narayan A, from the School of Policy and Governance, Azim Premji University (APU), said in an age where technology is used extensively in every field, it becomes difficult for officials to regulate it.
Political party leaders are conveying messages on social media in the same way they carry out door-to-door campaigns. The message is the same, only the medium of communication has changed, he added.