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Punjab assembly elections: Social media turns battleground for candidates in Mohali
Amid the ban on public rallies ahead of the Punjab assembly elections that are scheduled for February 20, candidates of political parties in Mohali are now leveraging digital media as their primary tool to woo voters
Amid the ban on public rallies ahead of the Punjab assembly elections that are scheduled for February 20, candidates of political parties in Mohali are now leveraging digital media as their primary tool to woo voters.
They are regularly coming up with videos and messages to either highlight their own achievements and also to take digs at their rivals. Candidates are routinely share videos and photographs of their visits to different places.
The online presence of three-time Congress MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu, who in the fray once again, is being handled by his son Kanwarbir Singh Ruby Sidhu and Sanjeev Kumar Garg along with a team of 15 people.
Ruby Sidhu said that in the present scenario, social media has proven to be a more effective medium for voter outreach, due to its huge audience and followers. “We are highlighting the achievements of Congress in Mohali through various platforms. A team of seven people is handling social media and an equal number is handling multimedia. We are trying our level best to reach out to people from every walk of life,” he said.
In 2017 as well, Congress had reaped the benefits of aggressive campaigning on online channels.
On the other hand, a team of five people is handling the social media of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Kulwant Singh at his office in Sector 79.
A team member, who wished not to be named, said that as soon as the candidature of Kulwant was announced, they started campaigning aggressively through various platforms. “Through our messages and videos, we are targeting the ruling government and highlighting the achievements of Kulwant Singh as mayor of Mohali. We are focusing on the promises to be fulfilled once voted to power,” he said.
Even SAD candidate Parvinder Singh Sohana, whose candidature was declared on Sunday, has constituted a team to look after his social media presence. Ishpreet Singh Vicky, who is handling Sohana’s team, said, “Our focus will be to highlight the achievements of the SAD during its tenure and also take on opponents on various issues. We will be actively starting our campaign from Thursday,” he said.
Himanshu Pathak, the head of Get Known, a political advisory consultancy and now handling a war room in Mohali, largely for Congress candidates in Punjab, says, “ Our whole focus is to build perception around the voters and technology backed by data plays an important role. At present, we are trying to have voter to voter connect via digital media. In Punjab, there are around 1.5 crore voters, who are active on digital media,” he said.
