Karnataka Elections: The Twitter Bug Bites Siddaramaiah

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah has upped his social media presence ahead of the elections in the state on 12 May.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. 

(Photo: Rahul Gupta/The Quint)

The political battle for Karnataka has seen the use of social media as a new tool of advantage. Both the BJP and the Congress are locked in a modern day hashtag war on various social media platforms. While the BJP has been using the social media to its advantage for quite some time (since 2014 to be specific), Congress’s social media strategy has now gained prominence.

Karnataka’s Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has been pro-active on the micro-blogging website Twitter to take on opposition ministers. From taking on Prime Minister Modi to hitting out at his Uttar Pradesh counterpart, Yogi Adityanath, Siddaramaiah has managed to grab a lot of attention.

With his Twitter strategy, Siddaramaiah has somewhat broken away from the conventional party campaigning strategy. According to observers, his social media strategy is coherent in terms of both, speed and response.

The Quint spoke to Santosh Desai, MD & CEO of Future Brands, who has pointed out a pattern in Siddaramaiah’s social media campaign. He says that Siddaramaiah has been responding to BJP bigwigs like Amit Shah, Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath, which, according to Desai, is a very strategic kind of approach for counter-attack.

On being asked about the use of social media for electioneering and the kind of impact it will have on elections, Desai argues:

It is unusual from the Congress perspective. Rahul Gandhi himself came onto Twitter late. He (Rahul Gandhi) has somewhat followed a more conservative strategy. However, Siddaramaiah has a certain cheekiness and a certain amount of a vibe in terms of humour. It is not harsh language as much as it is pointed.

Santosh Desai, MD &amp; CEO, Future Brands to <b>The Quint</b>

“But yes, you can see parallels. The fact that someone who has used social media strategically like Modi did in 2014, you can see (referring to Siddaramaiah’s stratergy) how you use social media when your rival is entrenched with a strong social media army,” Desai added.

PM Modi’s 2014 Social Media Campaign vs Siddaramaiah’s 2018 Strategy

The use of social media was instrumental in building Prime Minister Modi’s election campaign during the 2014 general elections. It was not just an essential campaign tool, but it also provided a platform for free expression of political views.

The success of Modi’s election campaign was not just pointed out by the Indian media but even the Foreign press labelled Modi as the “juggernaut of political social media”.

A similar strategy is now being adopted by the Congress for public outreach in Karnataka. However, Santosh Desai points out that there lies a tough challenge ahead of Congress.

In 2014, Modi had a free run as there was no social media presence on the other side. Congress was absent completely. However, now it is challenging for Congress as the BJP has a social media army.&nbsp;

Santosh Desai, MD &amp; CEO, Future Brands to <b>The Quint</b>

Speaking to The Quint, BG Mahesh, Founder of Oneindia.com and the technology brain behind Narendra Modi’s 2014 social media campaign, points out that it is actually a war between two social media teams. However, he too subscribes to the view that social media is being used in a big way in the Karnataka elections.

2014 was the first general election where digital was used in a big way, and 2018 state assembly elections in Karnataka is the first state election where digital is being used in the same way.&nbsp;

BG Mahesh, Founder of Oneindia.com

“Congress in 2014 didn’t have a serious social media team. But obviously, that part has been fixed. BJP has got a competitor on social media in Congress. But simply increasing followers will not help. The quality of content being shared also plays a big role,” Mahesh added.

Congress has made some very evident structural changes in their strategies. The new energy of Congress is more attentive and aggressive over social media. According to a report in Business Standard, despite a central digital media team, Siddaramaiah has his own digital team.

Siddaramaiah (or to say his team) has reacted to almost every allegation leveled by opposition leaders during election campaigns. From PM’s 15 minute dare to Rahul Gandhi to “Ignoring Farmers” remark, Siddaramaiah seems to have a response for it all.

Siddaramaiah Has Upped the Ante on Social Media

Prime Minister Modi had slammed Congress government for “ignoring” the plight of farmers in the state.

On Modi’s PPP jibe – Prime Minister had said after Karnataka elections, Congress will be reduced to PPP congress. Punjab, Puducherry – where the party is in power – and Parivaar (Family).

On PM’s contesting from two seats jibe. Prime Minister Modi had said that fearing defeat, Siddaramaiah is contesting from two seats.

On the issue of corruption as Prime Minister Modi referred to Siddarmaiah as ‘Sidda-rupaiya’ government.

Siddaramaiah also criticised Yogi Adityanath for electioneering in Karnataka while his own state was reeling under a dust storm that claimed lives.

Interestingly, Siddaramaiah, who has pulled out all stops to attack the opposition on Twitter, had started his Twitter account in 2017 to interact with people on social media. The account was launched in August with a public message – calling people to connect. Since then Siddaramaiah has been able to draw 1,52,000 followers.

According to a report in Livemint dated 18 August 2017, Siddaramaiah had 4,049 followers on his personal handle. Since then he has seen an increase of 1,47,951 followers.

(With inputs from Business Standard, The New York Times, Livemint and Quatrz)

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