New Delhi, May 20: With the BJP registering a thumping victory in the general election, significant credit goes to the party's online campaign to tap the general psyche by connecting with millions of youngsters.
Vikas Pandey, a 30-year-old software architect, headed the social media campaigns like "I Support Namo" on Facebook and Twitter, as a volunteer for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the then prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
He said the credit for such success should be shared by countless volunteers, mainly students and retired people.
Son of Gorakhpur mayour and BJP leader Dr. Satya Pandey, he said he involved himself with the political campaigning after meeting Modi in 2010. During this first meeting Modi asked him to make better use of the social media for the party's political success. Since then he started devoting his professional expertise as a 'swayamsewak' (RSS volunteer), without any fees for person or his fellow volunteers' services.
Pandey said the social media played a vital role in the current election in not only getting the BJP's desired message across but also influencing the public imagination at large to vote.
"Though Facebook was our main focus, we also got many volunteers from Twitter and Google+," Pandey said.
Asked whose baby the online campaign was, Pandey said he felt inspired by the Aam Aadmi Party's success in the 2013 Delhi assembly elections to turn the tables by getting non- partisan, self-motivated volunteers from the social media.
The rest was the team's dedication and determination for success.
"Our target was the middle and the upper middle class," Pandey said.
Due to these people, he said, "our team of volunteers could bypass non-favourable or negative views expressed in the mainstream media against the BJP or Modiji to reach out to voters directly".
"On Facebook, we have pages like 'I Support Namo', 'SanghParivar.Org', 'RSS', among others with over 45 lakh (4.5 million) likes. On Youtube, we started Narendra Modi's official Youtube channel, now India's most popular online political channel. And the 'I Support Namo' channel, which is now India's second most popular.
"On Twitter, I run many IDs such as @sanghparivarorg and @isupportnamo with more than 1.5 lakh followers," he said.
Asked about the secret of such an effective campaign in the polls, Pandey said it was all about "smart planning and team work, and in-depth knowledge of technology".
Since Facebook has an estimated 90 million members in India and Twitter has 30 million from India, he said they played a huge role in the polls.
The "I Support NaMo" page on Facebook now has over 23.5 lakh likes and its posts are read by over 2.5 crore people per week at times, "which is more than most of the newspaper readers", Pandey noted.
Pandey also worked during the Delhi assembly polls.
He said he has worked with various cells of the BJP in several state elections in the past."I created various ideology-related groups on Orkut with over 500,000 members in 2008," Pandey said.
Asked about the number of people involved in the NaMo campaign, he said: "We provided thousands of volunteers to the 'Vote for India Mission 272+' through social media networking in Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida, Faridabad and Gurgaon and reached out to around 1.5 lakh voters.
"Our volunteers reached out to one lakh voters in Mumbai, to 20,000 voters in Shimla, to 50,000 voters in Pune, and to around 50,000 voters in Varanasi in the last one month."
Pandey, who dedicated the success to his team of volunteers, said that though activities on the ground have stopped, "future communications will be maintained so that they help spread the good work done by the government and even help in upcoming state elections".
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How BJP's online campaign proved vital for success
May 20, 2014
Amidst protests, UP govt starts implementing contentious CAA
Agencies
January 6,2020
Lucknow, Jan 6: Undeterred by the large scale protests that claimed as many as 20 lives in the state, Uttar Pradesh government has started the process of implementing the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
According to sources in the government, the district magistrates have been directed to identify the migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, who have been living in their districts.
Sources said that the state home department has given oral instructions to the district magistrates. ''No written orders have been issued,'' said a senior official here preferring anonymity.
The official said that the district magistrates would be preparing a list containing names of those minorities, who had migrated from these countries following their persecution and had been living without obtaining the citizenship of India.
According to sources, the government expected that the migrants, who could be eligible for the Indian citizenship in accordance with the CAA, could be more in number in the districts, including Rampur, Ghaziabad, Shahjahanpur, Lucknow and some others.
''The list will be sent to the union home ministry,'' the official added.
Sources said that the state government will also inform the centre about the ''illegal Muslim migrants'' for their ultimate deportation to their countries of origin.
Different parts of UP had witnessed large scale violence last month during the protests against the CAA. At least 20 people, mostly youngsters, were killed allegedly in police firing and many others were injured. The state government had denied the charge.
Alleged police excesses during and after the protests triggered a nationwide outrage with several rights organisations and activists slamming the BJP government and demanding a high-level probe into the allegations.
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Manmohan Singh stable; developed reaction to medication: Hospital sources
News Network
May 11,2020
New Delhi, May 11: Former prime minister Manmohan Singh is stable and under observation at the AIIMS here after suffering reaction to a new medication and developing fever, hospital sources said on Monday.
The 87-year-old Congress leader was admitted to the hospital on Sunday evening after he complained of uneasiness. He has now been shifted out of the ICU.
The sources said that Singh had developed a reaction to a new medication and further investigation is being carried on him to rule out other causes of fever.
"Dr Manmohan Singh was admitted for observation and investigation after he developed a febrile reaction to a new medication," the sources said.
"He is being investigated to rule out other causes of fever and is being provided care as needed. He is stable and under care of a team of doctors at the Cardiothoracic Centre of AIIMS," they said.
"All his parameters are fine. He is under observation at the AIIMS," a source close to him has said.
Singh, a senior leader of the opposition Congress, is currently a Member of Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan. He was the prime minister between 2004 and 2014.
In 2009, Singh underwent a successful coronary bypass surgery at the AIIMS. A number of leaders expressed have expressed concern over his health and wished him a speedy recovery.
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Rajasthan political crisis: Sachin Pilot-led Congress camp releases video showing 16 MLAs sitting together
News Network
July 14,2020
Jaipur, Jul 14: In a show of strength, Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot-led Rajasthan Congress camp on Monday released a video showing at least 16 MLAs sitting together.
This comes hours after the Congress held a legislature party meeting. Party leaders said 106 of 122 MLAs attended, a claim contested by the Pilot camp.
The 10-second video was shared late at night on Pilot's official WhatsApp group.
In the video, at least 16 MLAs are seen sitting together in a close circle. Pilot is not seen in the video.
Six other people can be seen in the video but they could not be identified.
Some of the MLAs seen in the video are Indraraj Gurjar, Mukesh Bhakar, Harish Meena.
Tourism Minister Vishvendra Singh tweeted the video with the caption "Family".
Ladnun MLA Mukesh Bhakar tweeted, "...Loyalty in Congress means Ashok Gehlot's slavery. That is not acceptable to us."
Pilot has been upset since he was denied the Rajasthan chief minister's post after the December 2018 assembly elections.
On Sunday, he claimed to have the backing of 30 Congress MLAs and "some independents".
Those close to him disputed Gehlot's claim that his government had a majority, and said this is proven in the assembly and not at the CM's house.
Sources close to him have also ruled out the possibility of Pilot joining the BJP.
In the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly, the Congress has 107 MLAs and the BJP 72. In the past, the ruling party has claimed the support of 13 independents, two MLAs each from the CPM and the Bharatiya Tribal Party, and one from the Rashtriya Lok Dal.
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