Political analysts and media studies scholars worldwide attribute credit to social media for Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal coming to power in Delhi in 2013 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre in 2014. It’s true that Arvind Kejriwal, coming from an engineering background, was the first to understand the power of digital technology and turned it into the sinews of his start-up Aam Aadmi Party.
Modi, given that he is a keen and sharp student of politics, looking at the assembly poll results in Delhi was quick to grasp the power of social media. He made use of it during the 2014 general election, which helped him to come to power with a thumping majority. The Congress on the other hand refused to learn from the debacle of Delhi in 2013 and went unprepared into 2014 general elections on the social media front.
No wonder it lost miserably. Congress leadership failed to fully understand the complexities of a social media success story and continued to commit ‘harakiris’. Almost a decade later, the political discourse continues to be released on social media platforms on almost all issues. We would limit the discussion on this to the governance of Delhi. In the pitched battle being fought between the AAP and the BJP in Delhi, the former continues to have an upper hand largely on the account of the AAP having leaders who was equipped better with wit and are quick to react to even an adverse situation with some waggishness.
On the other hand, Delhi BJP leadership has been found wanting on this count. And this has not been true just for present president Adesh Gupta but also his predecessor Manoj Tiwari. They have limited their social media presence to video clips of all the public activity that they do through the day, celebrate birthdays of unknown and irrelevant and seldom utilise any data to discredit the Kejriwal government. Instead they prefer taking on Kejriwal by giving credit to the Prime Minister for all the good that was happening.
The local BJP leaders realise little that too much use of Brand Modi in their battle against the AAP, has ended-uppitching Prime Minister Modi against Arvind Kejriwal. This in turn has helped the AAP to try and make their Gujarat campaign into Kejriwal Model versus Narendra Modi model story. The Modi model may be much bigger and influential but with a much more acrimonious and with better ability to pedal fake data, AAP has so far had the BJP on the back foot in battle for Delhi. Delhi BJP has also so far failed to capitalize on the steps taken by Lieutenant Governorof Delhi to put the AAP government in the dock.
Ordinarily with a Minister and an MLA in jail in jail, and two other senior colleagues of Mr Kejriwal facing the CBI and Enforcement Director probe, the opposition BJP should have been out on the streets bringing pressure on the government to resign. That has not happened so far as the local BJP leadership has decided to limit their counter on the social media, which incidentally is the strong area of the AAP.
In private conversations, BJP leaders concede that they actually do not have anything locally to showcases counter to the much bloated claims of development hawked by the AAP. Secondly a much centralized functioning of the BJP especially its media policy may also be hampering the initiatives of the local unit. That in the battle between BJP, which has nothing to showcase for Delhi, and AAP, which makes very bloated claims about its works, what lies wounded? Its governance in Delhi, which has taken a beating in this battle of discordant narratives.
Sidharth Mishra
Author and president, Centre for Reforms, Development & Justice