As Delhi goes to polls on 12 May, the three-way contest between Congress, AAP and BJP is being watched keenly. Leaders of all the three parties, from newcomers to veterans, are not just busy holding rallies and roadshows in the capital but are also engaged in verbal sparring on social media.
While speaking in an election rally in Delhi on Wednesday 8 May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the Aam Aadmi Party’s rule in Delhi, without naming the party.
He said, “Delhi is the only state where there is a new political culture of “nakampanthi (non-performance). They say no to ‘vikaas’ and are unsuccessful in the attempts to get things done.”
Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia replied with a tweet saying that the BJP is a party of jumlas. “Modiji, you forgot the 5th political tradition, ‘Jumlapanti’.” He listed the promises of 15 lakhs in every account, full statehood to Delhi and demonetisation ending black money and terrorism.
“BJP should be called the party of ‘jumlas’,” he said.
Arvind Kejriwal also tweeted, “We did a lot of work in departments of education, electricity and water. What did you do in 5 years? Speeches, foreign trips and ‘jumlebaazi’. Anything else?” he asked.
In another tweet that the Congress put out on Thursday, 9 May, the party indirectly hit out at both BJP and AAP. “People of Delhi, don’t fall for Jumlas, nor support the drama queens,” said the tweet. “Choose Congress’ real development and give a befitting reply to the Jumla and Dramebazi development.”
A video accompanying the tweet showed a man seeing unemployment and farmer suicide but he then wears a ‘bhakt glass’ showing him that everything is rosy.
A day earlier, on Wednesday May 8, Aam Aadmi Pary’s official handle had put out a tweet quoting Arvind Kejriwal who said, “Priyanka Gandhi should not waste her time in Delhi. Congress will lose its deposit. Instead she should campaign in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh where the fight is between Cong-BJP.”
But later that day, Priyanka Gandhi took out a roadshow in Delhi along with former CM of Delhi and congress candidate Sheila Dikshit where she said, “Modi ji is in Delhi for five years. I was born in the city. I have seen every bylane.”
But it looks like both Congress and AAP leadership are focusing on attacking BJP, more than each other, at least on social media. But Narendra Modi’s verbal attacks were not limited to Aam Aadmi Party. He also put out a tweet after his roadshow in Delhi, accusing the Congress government of ‘trampling the ethos of Delhi’.
Candidates Harness Social Media
Twitter is not just being used to attack opponents. All the three party leaders and candidates are also posting pictures of campaigning and election rallies in Delhi, to harness the reach of social media.
Actors Swara Bhaskar, Prakash Raj, Gul Panag and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani campaigned for AAP in Delhi. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal thanked all of them for their support, in a tweet.
Swara Bhasker also posted pictures from the campaigning in Kalkaji, Delhi.
Congress also shared moments from general secretary Priyanka Gandhi’s roadshow held in Delhi, where she ‘challenged’ PM Modi.
BJP candidate from East Delhi and former cricketer Gautam Gambhir also shared pictures from his roadshow on Twitter.
As many as 164 candidates are in the fray in Delhi, where the polls is largely being seen as a triangular contest among the AAP, BJP and the Congress. Of the over 1.43 crore voters in Delhi, 78,73,022 are male and 64,42,762 female, while 669 belong to the third gender.
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