India's+First+Social+Media+Election

**By Nikhat Azam** The 2014 National Indian Election has been causing quite a stir by demonstrating significant progress in India’s political forefront and outreach. Polling began on April 7th and India’s new government will be announced about five weeks later, on May 16th. With almost 24 million voters aged 18 and 19 and voting for their first time, the campaign has been moved to a new political platform: social media (Khullar). In keeping with the times of technology and appealing to all generations, social media and internet-based campaigning have been introduced into the process. This election has proven to be a distinguished event due to many reasons besides the technological progress that comes along with successive generations. The election is occurring to constitute the 16th Lok Sabha in India, or lower Parliament of the Indian government. There are 543 seats in the Lok Sabha so 272 seats are needed for the majority. Leaders in the race include Rahul Gandhi of the Indian National Congress and Narendra Modi from the Bharatiya Janata Party. While India’s constitution promises equality before the law and freedom of religion and expression, some of these ideals haven’t exactly been exercised. Some downsides to India’s vibrant economy and principles include harsh working conditions and an incomplete educational system. Such issues have been brought forth more so in recent times, and for that, this election proves to be monumental in India’s history. Politicians running for office venture through different venues of outreach, whether through formal dinners, events or even bribes (Ayres). This election, politicians have taken to social media accounts to appeal to a strong, young adult population. Having a vibrant YouTube channel or a dynamic Facebook page seem to now be as essential as holding mass rallies and plastering candidates’ faces on billboards (Khullar). In a poll surveyed by Simplify360, it is clear that Arvind Kejriwal, a man that is not part of the top two running candidates, is receiving the most social media attention (Taylor). The reason for this is that corruption is probably the most important topic in this year’s election. Corruption is an issue specifically regarded by the young and tech savvy population of India. As Kejriwal capitalizes on a huge anti-corruption platform, he has received much attention from India’s social media users who are so focused on the issue of corruption. Additionally, Kejriwal seems to be causing a stir in press other than social media, as Live Mint reported that 28% of news channel coverage on the election is based on Kejriwal (Dutta). Subsequently, Modi receives coverage 24% of the time and Gandhi receives coverage less than 5% of the time. Rival parties have attempted to make more a stance on social media in response to the new light of the elections. For example, on Twitter, those who mention “Modi” on their status updates have the pleasure of receiving a response from the @BJP4India account featuring a video message from Modi himself (Lasseter). Twitter followers have also received personalized Holi greetings from prime ministerial candidate Narenda Modi. Modi’s campaign also featured “Chai Pe Charcha” or a discussion over tea, where he appears on giant screens across tea stalls in the region, hosting live interactions with the people. Another technological campaign is held by the Aam Aadmi Party, in which supporters were urged to donate a social media update to the party. The objective facts of the election are seen on social media pages such as the “India Election Tracker” page on Facebook. The page features leading candidates and parties and depicts the trends of mentions of the candidates on Facebook and how they are ranked according to that. This trend can be analyzed through various time frames and is depicted on a line graph for ease of examination. Apart from the candidates using technology to appeal to the masses, the election itself has incorporated technology. Early last year, the Election Commission of India pronounced that it would be utilizing COMET, Communication Plan for Election, as an SMS alert system for the election. The system would use text messages to deliver different details about the election such as conduction of mock polls, start of polling, voting percentages every couple hours and the number of voters. The question remains whether these efforts will truly be impactful for the candidates’ campaigns. The facts are that there are more than 200 million Internet users in India. The World Bank surveyed in 2012 that 12.6% of India’s population had presence on the internet. Facebook recently stated that 100 million of its users were in India. (Taylor). Most of these users are young and mobile urban dwellers. It is no doubt that this demographic has a strong social and political expression and engagement. Moreover, the presence of technology in the 2014 election shows a progression in India, not only in the people of power, but of the general public. The focus of campaigns on social media has been met with some skepticism, however. Suhas Palshikar, political analyst and professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Pune states that since only about 10% of the total population has access to social media, the vast expenses that are spent on targeting social media outlets may be a waste of money (Dutta). Other arguments state that while social media is youth-centric, it most definitely appeals to all generations. Mandar Ghate, head of BJP’s media campaign states that people between 34 and 60 years of age are most active on social media, and that that will most definitely translate into votes (Dutta). The effect of the social media in the elections is yet to be determined, and that relationship can only be truly analyzed when the election results are announced.
 * India’s First Social Media Election**