The overwhelming 2019 poll victory of the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) in Andhra Pradesh has come for a real test as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is gearing up for a virtual war to constantly put forward a positive image before voters, spinning long narratives in favour of the ruling party at the Centre.
With thousands of social media handles and pages surfacing constantly, the war on opponents in the form of photos, graphics, videos and others to propagate ideology and political messages is vividly seen in the state of Andhra Pradesh already.
Terming its cadre as "social media warriors", State BJP president Somu Veerraju addressed a virtual conference with the workers in Vijayawada recently, though he did not reveal the number of actual participants.
Welfare Schemes of Centre
To begin with, BJP is planning to publicise the welfare schemes being implemented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which it hoped the social media warriors would help reach the last man in the state, though it remained silent on 'special category status' that was denied to the state since bifurcation.
While social media experts advised the party's virtual 'warriors' on how to reach the last man through the digital avenues, "We discussed extensively on the central government schemes, followed by the activists coming up with suggestions on various topics," said Veerraju.
Sunil Deodhar, BJP's co-incharge for the southern state spoke virtually with the saffron party's social media supporters. He was soon joined by Madhukar, AP BJP general secretary, V.S. Satya Murthy, treasurer among others.
Recently, Veerraju claimed that the central government will invest Rs 1,000 crore for the development of Tirupati, where a by-election is due and BJP wants to win and set the ball rolling the way it was able to win the prestigious bypoll in Dubbaka in the neighbouring state of Telangana recently and even in its GHMC civic body elections.
Already several BJP leaders are camping in Tirupati, ahead of the parliament bypoll that is likely to be a litmus test for the saffron party's "dakshin plan". At the ground level, the party has formed 45 booth-level committees for each division with a catch line: "To save Tirumala, BJP has to win in Tirupati."
BJP leader GVL Narasimha Rao has hinted that the election will be fought on ending the corrupt practices of both the ruling YSRCP and the earlier TDP government. The BJP may field actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan from the Jana Sena party as a joint candidate. It remains to be seen who will win in the social media war that is likely to reach electrifying momentum during the bypoll in Tirupati.
YSRCP social media
However, the ruling YSRCP's social media supporter Prabhakar has already taken up the task of countering the social media war from BJP. In a recently released video message, he underlined the importance of social media, especially during elections. The social media's role will be much larger now than what it played in the 2019 election, he reminded his followers.
However, he decried that social media warriors are not getting their due recognition as many of them are being bypassed for people who haven't contributed much for the welfare of the party. Otherwise, the state ruling party is gearing up for a reminder of what the Centre owes to the state.
The counter move to BJP narrative has also seen demands for the release of funds for long-standing Polavaram project and giving the special category status to Andhra Pradesh, which massively lost out after the bifurcation of the united state into Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Though Congress is wiped out of the state owing to the bifurcation in 2014, BJP-led Centre is still seen denying the special category status to the state contrary to the promise made in parliament before passing the bill on bifurcation. It remains to be seen how AP voters react in the upcoming Tirupati bypoll.
(With inputs from IANS)
