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Punjab: Candidates take to nukkad meetings, social media to click with voters
The parliamentary seats of Bathinda, Ferozepur and Faridkot have so far not seen any major public gathering or rally.
With a sizeable portion of the electorate busy with wheat harvesting and purchasing operations, key contestants from the three Lok Sabha constituencies in South Malwa are relying on traditional “nukkad” meetings and social media outreach, instead of large public gatherings, to connect with voters.
The parliamentary seats of Bathinda, Ferozepur and Faridkot have so far not seen any major public gathering or rally.
Bathinda
Though sitting Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MP and former Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal has been in campaign mode for over a month or so, she is mostly meeting her supporters or holding small gatherings in villages or urban pockets of her constituency.
With Harsimrat being the only member of the Badal family, who is in fray for the Lok Sabha elections this time, the SAD has stationed the party’s IT (information technology) head Nashattar Singh Gill in Bathinda to give thrust to her digital campaign.
Her contender, Parampal Kaur Sidhu, a 2011-batch IAS officer, who took premature retirement to contest the election on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket, has roped in a private PR (public relations) agency to boost her social media image. After she started campaigning on April 13, her team created a Facebook, Instagram and Twitter account for her, where they regularly post pictures and videos of her public meetings and gatherings.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) nominee Gurmeet Singh Khudian’s digital campaign is being spearheaded by his tech savvy sons, Ameet Khuddian and Sumit Khuddian.
As per the page transparency details shared by Meta, Khudian’s Facebook page is being managed by individuals from 11 Indian locations. Khudian’s verified FB page also contains his interviews with web channels.
Congress candidate Jeetmohinder Singh Sidhu’s FB page is managed from three Indian locations. His page is filled with electioneering content in the form of political meetings, reels and newspaper clippings.
Faridkot
In Faridkot constituency, where Punjabi film actor Karamjit Singh Anmol (AAP) is pitted against Punjabi singer Hans Raj Hans, ‘star power’ is dominating the campaign even on social media.
Anmol, a first-time contestant, frequently posts reels featuring his colleagues from the Punjabi film industry to woo voters. His
FB page ‘Karamjit Singh Anmol Faridkot’ has 1.55 lakh followers and is handled from nine locations, including seven from India and one each in Ireland and Canada.
Meanwhile, Hans Raj Hans, who has been facing farmers’ wrath during his campaign trails, is leaving no stone unturned in the digital space to connect with voters. His social media pages are filled with pictures and videos of his meetings and reels with Sufi songs in the background.
Meanwhile, the Congress candidate here, Amarjit Kaur Sahoke, hardly has any social media presence.
Ferozepur
In Ferozepur, where the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party are yet to announce their candidates, political activity – on ground as well in the digital arena, is yet to gain momentum.
While the AAP nominee Jagdeep Singh Kaka Brar mainly sticks to Facebook, the digital presence of SAD’s Nardev Singh Bobby Mann is next to nil.
