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BJP plans big social media push ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls
In Uttar Pradesh, the party would be holding special social media workshops between August 27 and September 15
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has begun preparations to connect with people through social media in a big way to maximise the party’s outreach for the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
It has set a target of reaching 30% people in the country through social media, leaders aware of the development said in Kanpur. In Uttar Pradesh, the party would be holding special social media workshops between August 27 and September 15.
“The party will focus on gaining the big faces of different social media platforms. The party will try to recruit those with a subscriber base of 20,000 to one lakh in the social media,” said two BJP leaders on the condition of anonymity. “449 big influencers identified in the process have been invited to social media workshop in Lucknow on August 27,” they added.
At the district level, the party’s focus would be on joining of people with a subscriber base of 10,000 followers to 50,000 followers.
“The idea is to reach out to 30% people in the country and use social media to manage equations in 30% of total Lok Sabha seats,” said a leader. “This way the party targets 24 seats in U.P. having a total 80 seats and 163 on the national scene,” the leader added.
The social media teams would be formed at three levels: Lok Sabha teams that would have one convener, one co-convener and 10 members each. The assembly and mandal teams would have convener, co-convener and five members each.
Party’s regional convener of social media (Kanpur-Bundelkhand) Mahendra Vikram Singh said, “The party has given priority to social media this time. The state team in each district will have a 12-member social team while the IT team will have two members. This is the first time the party is pushing social media more than its IT wing.”
Ahead of these workshops, the party has set a deadline that each district should have social media in place by August 20. The biggest change this time is the district team(s) would not function under the district president but would report to the state social media team.
The party would be holding a volunteers’ meet in all the major cities next month. “We expect 5,000 influencers in Uttar Pradesh will join the party. They would help fight anti-BJP propaganda in different domains of social media,” said leaders.
The BJP leaders said these influencers will also be taken to the Kashi Vishwanath (KV) corridor in Varanasi and Ram temple in Ayodhya. Harsh Dwivedi and Ayushman Singh, the co-convenors of BJP’s social media wing, said the party will also use artificial intelligence (AI) in its social media campaign.
