BJP Retained Gujarat, but Congress Won the Twitter Mentions Battle

Twitter data recorded over 1.9 million mentions of the elections on the platform since 1 December.

(Photo: The Quint)

The Bharatiya Janata Party may have won on the ground in Gujarat, but in the virtual battle, Congress seems to have walked away with the trophy. According to Twitter’s internal data revealed on Tuesday, 19 December, the share of mentions the Congress’ handle (@INCIndia) enjoyed on the microblogging site was 42 percent, while the BJP’s (@BJP4India) was 38 percent.

In the comparison between state party handles, however, BJP Gujarat (@BJP4Gujarat) enjoyed 15 percent of the mentions, and Congress Gujarat (@INCGujarat) had five percent of the share.

Modi the Top-Mentioned Political Figure

Prime Minister Narendra Modi emerged as the most mentioned personality on Twitter during the course of the Gujarat elections, followed by Congress President Rahul Gandhi, showed the data, which recorded over 1.9 million mentions of the elections on the platform since 1 December.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani emerged as the most mentioned election candidate on the platform.

The data also reflects that Twitterati keenly followed Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani and OBC leader Alpesh Thakore, as they emerged as the second- and third-most mentioned election candidates.

Development Top Conversation Topic

The data also revealed that though the Congress campaign for the election focused on Goods and Services Tax (GST) and demonetisation, people were more interested in topics related to ‘development’.

‘Religion & Hindutva’ emerged as the second hottest topic and ‘GST’ took the third spot. ‘Demonetisation’ emerged a distant fifth, Twitter India said.

This was also the first time Twitter introduced live streaming of the elections in India, adding more ways for people to watch the Gujarat election unfold in real-time.

"People all over the world leveraged Twitter to see what's happening in India as the nation develops as a cultural, economic and political force to be reckoned with," Twitter India said in a statement on Tuesday.

Check out the heatmap link to see the global conversation for the #GujaratElections on Twitter.

Twitter activity on counting day.

“Our data indicates that more people are responding to Tweets in Hindi, and leaders are reacting to speeches and statements directly on Twitter. It’s exciting to see how people across India are watching videos and tweets from rallies held all over Gujarat, evident of a more vibrant politically involved community,” said Mahima Kaul, Head of Public Policy & Government, Twitter India.

The BJP bagged 99 seats, seven more than the magic figure of 92 in a House of 182. Putting up an improved performance, the Congress secured 77 seats, while its allies got three more.