BJP president Amit Shah’s insistence on having a definite social media presence with at least 25,000 followers as criteria for getting a ticket in the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh has
BJP president Amit Shah’s insistence on having a definite social media presence with at least 25,000 followers as criteria for getting a ticket in the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh has left the BJP MLAs in UP in a dilemma.
“Most of us come from semi-urban and rural constituencies where people are not familiar with social media. In fact, majority of them do not even know how to operate a computer. With just about 10 months left for the elections, we are devoting time to our constituencies and now we are being asked to concentrate on Facebook,” said a BJP MLA from western UP.
Most of the BJP MLAs are not active on the social media and those that are, have deployed their family members or people from outside to handle their accounts.
BJP MLA Raghunandan Bhadauria candidly admitted that he does have a Facebook account, but it is operated by his personal assistant. I will now ask him to make my Facebook page and ensure 25,000 followers,” he said.
Another BJP MLA Jagan Prasad Garg said that his social media account is operated by his nephew. “I will ask my nephew to ensure the required number of followers at the earliest,” he said.
BJP MLA Ravindra Bhadana also admitted that his account on social media was operated by his son. “But I will learn now though it seems rather cumbersome,” he stated.
Senior BJP MLA Dharampal Singh said that his constituency is largely rural and most of the people are not on social media. Similar views are shared by BJP MLA Satyadev Pachauri.
A senior BJP MLA who is not on the social media said that there was no point in making another person operate one’s account.
“As a legislator, I am always short of time when it comes to meeting my people and solving their problems. I cannot spare one or two hours for the social media and I do not see any benefit in allowing another person to operate my account. How will I know what the feedback is and how he is responding ” he asked.
A few BJP MLAs are ev-en willing to forego their ticket if presence on soc-ial media is a factor. “We connect with people and not with networking sites. If this is a criteria, I am willing to forego my ticket,” said a senior MLA.
A few BJP MLAs, however, are active on Facebook and these include state BJP president Laxmikant Bajpai who personally handles his account. “I have over 24,000 followers and will increase them in a month’s time. I personally operate my account,” he said.
