The mega Opposition rally organised by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at Kolkata's Brigade Ground captured much of the media attention throughout Saturday while taking social media by storm.
At least five hashtags related to the rally – most in favour and one against – were the top trends on Twitter in India during the day. Interestingly, the names of leaders who were present at the rally were trending individually as well.
These were #UnitedIndiaAtBrigade, #UnitedIndiaRally, #Mamata2019Rally and #MamataManch2019. A negative hashtag #UnitedAntiNationalsAtBrigade was also among the top trends, largely driven by pro-BJP handles.
Some of the key themes that emerged from the social media discussions around these hashtags were:
National Challenge to BJP
The vast spread of the positive hashtags showed that people from all over were involved in the discussion and were widely following the rally.
The leaders who made their way for the rally, all called for one thing: a need for change. The parties looked ‘united’ with their stance on the General Elections 2019 as well as their critique of the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party. This unity also impressed a lot of social media users as this sort of ‘camaraderie’ is rarely seen within political parties, who are mostly warring.
Another common point raised by many leaders present was saving the Constitution and democracy. With the recent increase in number of mob violence and lynchings, the sentiment was echoed by many Twitter users.
The social media also went buzzing with individual leaders and their speeches. The huge crowd that turned out for the event, erupted into cheers more often than not, listening to the leaders.
Names of leaders like Shatrughan Sinha, Yashwant Singh, Farooq Abdullah were top Twitter trends in India as well as individual city trends.
‘#MamataBanerjee’ was one of the earliest hashtags to start trending, even before the rally kicked off. It showed the interest and anticipation of the public for the rally.
Banerjee, also addressed as ‘Didi’ was able to do almost the unimaginable by getting so many leaders under one roof and was commended for the same.
‘Victory of Federalism’
The departure from the standard of using Hindi as the medium to communicate with the crowd also impressed some users, who hailed it as a victory of federalism.
The way DMK leader MK Stalin addressed the crowd in Tamil which was then translated into Bangla, was welcomed by many.
By projecting several leaders from across the country, the Opposition tried to draw a contrast to the BJP, which they accused of being a one-man show.
Modi’s Rally Remained Lacklustre
The Opposition rally completely dominated social media and very few noticed that PM Modi was holding a rally in Silvassa in Dadra and Nagar Haveli around the same time.
Forget social media, many TV channels devoted more airtime to the Opposition’s rally than the prime minister’s.
The PM raised one pertinent point of who will be the face of the mahagathbandhan, which was answered by Mamata Banerjee when she took the stage. Banerjee said that the Opposition will decide their candidate after the elections.
Meanwhile, the PM also made a claim about the Opposition meeting in Kolkata because they only had one MLA in the state, which was proven wrong.
BJP IT Cells At Work
Among the many positive hashtags, one negative one was also trending, mostly credited to troll accounts and BJP IT cells. The hashtag read ‘UnitedAntiNationalsatBrigade’. Even though nothing against the nation was said, it just implied that anti-BJP equals anti-national.
Politicians Smartly Add To Social Media Buzz
The leaders who attended the rally also helped in creating buzz around it. For example RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav tweeted before making his way to the rally.
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