CHENNAI: As the State nears its Assembly elections, political parties are fighting it out — both on the streets through fiery, persuasive speeches and on the internet through advertisements and short films — signalling a deft adaptation to the changing times. Using the digital resources that are at their disposal, parties try to convince voters of how good they are or how bad others are.
Unleashing creativity, DMK’s IT team, spearheaded by I-PAC, which is handling the party’s election campaign, was among the first to venture into animated short-films highlighting the issues faced by the people. One of such videos released under the banner ‘#WeRejectBanner’ months ago on the social media handles of DMK depicted the suicide of Anitha, a NEET candidate from the State and how many other students died by suicide due to the pressure created by national exam.
In response to that, the AIADMK’s IT wing release a short under the banner ‘Vetrinadai Podum Tamizhagam’, which listed down its achievements. In the video, a young girl from the village runs to her father, who is a farmer, after she gets admission to a medical college through the 7.5 per cent horizontal reservation for government school students, which was introduced by the government.
The national parties in TN, the Congress and the BJP, which heavily piggyback on the Dravidian majors, also tried their hand at reaching out to the masses through digital platforms. BJP’s ‘Vel Yatra’ promotion video, which featured former Chief Minister MG Ramachandran received much attention from the netizens. Meanwhile, a video of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Coimbatore, under the banner ‘Our Kai Paarpom’, playing with a Tamil song in the background also did rounds on social media.
From releasing advertisements to strengthening social media profiles of leaders, and making videos/shorts for promotion of the party and last but not the least, for attacking the Opposition, political parties in the State have deployed various approaches to appeal to the internet populace, who may play a vital role this election. Commenting on the trend, P Thiaga Rajan, Head, DMK IT Wing, said, “As of now, apart from the age, gender and location, we know very little about the audience through digital campaigns.
It is important for us to dominate the social media, trending aspects and such, but at the end of the day, I think politics is all about working at the grassroots.” He said the impact of digital communication is definitely higher in TN, due to the high education level of people here. Some political observers said, apart from mainstream parties, the digital campaigns are also helping non-traditional parties like the NTK, founded by Seeman. “Due to NTK’s linguistic majoritarian ideology, the party is ignored by the print and digital medias. So, NTK depends on online spaces such as YouTube and WhatsApp to convey message,” says political observer Raveenthran Duraisamy.
Rajeev Ranjan next chief secretary?
Chennai: Repatriation of senior IAS officer Rajeev Ranjan of 1985 batch to Tamil Nadu cadre on Wednesday has given rise to speculation that he may be appointed as the next State Chief Secretary. Incumbent Chief Secretary K Shanmugam is retiring from service within a few days. Ranjan is the senior most IAS officer in Chief Secretary grade in Tamil Nadu after Meenakshi Rajagopal. On Wednesday, the Union Ministry of Personnel issued an order saying, “Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved repatriation of Rajeev Ranjan, Secretary, Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying to his parent cadre on the request of the State government.”