Poonam Mahajan or Priya Dutt - Who will you swipe right for?

When you check Poonam Mahajans Instagram story the first thing that pops up is the office lesson that most 38yearolds today are dealing with Under the label Youth Service with a picture of Mahajan seated in her office on a table with others on her team is the caption Learnt plenty of millenial slang with my team of young volunteersThese are followed by stories of her hugging her mother with a portrait of her father and the late BJP icon Pramod Mahajan behind and heading to Prabhadevis Siddhivinayak Temple to take Bappas blessingCongress candidate Priya Dutt has asked voters to spend five minutes on social media every day to support democracyHighlights include an Ask Poonam event where followers have asked her everything from why slums near the Mumbai airport are not a concern for her to how she juggles her role as a mother to two with that of being an MP mdash Mahajan was elected from Mumbai North Central in the 2014 elections and is contesting the same seat this season as wellAlmost like a movie promotion blitzkrieg where stars finally shine down and interact with the fans in the runup to the 2019 general elections your Lok Sabha candidate will now no longer just meet you at your society gate hands folded or pass by your office road in a rallyBJP candidate Poonam Mahajan has talked about connecting with millennial slang through her young volunteersThey have realised that to grab the millennial attention mdash 45 million people have become eligible to vote since the previous elections according to 2018 data from the Election Commission mdash they need to be where the millennial is on their smartphones Which is probably why Mahajan who at last count had a little over 180 posts since joining the picture sharing site in 2015 with 130K followers is upping her social media gameAlso Read Elections 2019 BJP candidate Poonam Mahajans annual income drops over past 5 yearsLast month she launched a campaign to attract volunteers especially those in the 18 and 25 year age bracket on Instagram Shivish Soni 23 a member of Mahajans social media campaign said those who responded to the story Swipe up to connect with Poonam Mahajan would be linked to a form titled PoonamPhirSe which one could fill to join her campaign for a range of volunteer workBJPs Poonam Mahajan speaking to volunteers about her social media campaign at the election ward head office in Vakola PicNimesh DaveMore than 3 000 people registered since March 27 Around 600 volunteers from Mumbai were asked to be a part of offline campaigning activities while those outside of Mumbai 2400 volunteers were roped in to help with online promotion and research he saysObama se BJP takThere was a time when election campaigns would mean a riot of competing political pamphlets everywhere Streets and chowks would be marked with party flags and firecrackers and loudspeakers on autos or taxis would announce the slogan for neta not a Twitter hashtag Today the city barely shows any signs of democracy on the go The action has all but moved out of urban areasOwen Roncon is handling wife Priya Dutts social media campaign Since her candidature was announced on March 13 her Instagram feed has seen 50plus posts PicShadab KhanSanjay Dina Patil former MP and senior leader with the Nationalist Congress Party recalls campaigns from 1999 We had to take out pheris and meet everyone physically day and night to hand out pamphlets which were printed in volumes They were distributed at public places events and during political speeches and rallies to give an idea of our agenda for the constituencyThe 50yearold who was elected from Mumbai North East in the 2009 elections and will be contesting from the same constituencythis year adds that while meeting people in person has not been ruled out entirely things like putting out our priorities and announcing the sabhas has become easier on social media The new generation is more connected on social media and it has become the need of the hour to be there to connect with new and firsttime votersPicGetty ImagesShidarth Bhatt a social media expert says that it was Narendra Modi who first latched on to the idea of a social media campaign during his PM run for the 2014 elections At the time the presence of Congress was limited There was only Shashi Tharoor who had Twitter presence with a mere 5000 followers Now all Congress members have their accounts on all social media platformsBhatt who in 2014 handled Modis online campaign says the cue to use social media as a campaign tool came from the presidential pitch of former US president Barak Obama who was a hit on social media during the 2008 US elections Last elections though it was the BJP that took the lead forming its own IT hub recruiting social media experts andcomputer engineers from top institutions to plan their online campaignClyde CrastoPicking the mediumHow the voter uses social media also reflects in campaign strategies For instance while WhatsApp Facebook and Twitter ruled in 2014 today these mediums have tough competition from Instagram Devang Dave national IT and social media head of the BJP Youth Wing says text messaging may have held a party in good stead during 2009 but with 3G internet in 2014 parties were able to reach a wider audienceThis year while tracking the youth and how they are changing we noticed that while the average age of a Facebook user earlier was 1819 years now the users are largely between 2830 years The 1819 year group has moved on to Instagram or Snapchat he addsOn social media Party vicepresident Baba Siddique says that the padyatras continue to remain as effective as before but striking a careful balance with the online campaign helps people see what youre doing PicAtul KambleAnd so even a reluctant user like Congress candidate Priya Dutt who had nearly retired from politics post her loss in 2014 has upped her social media game after being announced candidate for the North Central constituency on March 13 With less than 200 uploads since being on the platform in 2012 Dutt 52 has uploaded over 50 postsever sinceSome of these include videos of herself launching the 555 campaign urging voters who believe in democracy to take five minutes on social media to promote the partys positive messages to speak to five people asking them to vote for Congress representing unity and harmony and ensure that they take five people along to vote The video has been made in both English and Hindi Other posts talk of developmental work she had been involved in during her previous stint as MPCongress Priya Dutt has been personally meeting residents in the North Central constituency while also promoting her 555 campaignThese include the Congress NYAY programme and even a video of driving down along Mumbais roads speaking in Marathi talking of Congress development strategy and saying shell vote for the hand If the candidate and volunteers were rendered doortodoor salesmen in a noncellphone era today they have the luxury of being a homeshopping service with the buyer logging in and out at willDutts husband Owen Roncon an advertising professional who is now handling her social media campaign explained that the 555 campaign takes up an inclusive approach and allows people to set achievable targets for themselves in order to make a change While many voters have made up their minds about which side to support many are sitting on the fence and are considered to be the swing vote We are urging people to identify them and hopefully bring them to our side by spreading the partys message he addsSanjay Dina Patil NCP candidate from the Mumbai North East constituency still prefers doing pheris to meet voters but says announcing sabhas has become easier on social media The need of the hour he says is to connect with new and firsttime votersAnd like all products identifying a target audience is crucial to the medium you pick The Shiv Sena which continues its tumultuous relationship with ally BJP has this year moved from painting the town saffron mdash Senadominated area would be decorated in orange flags and lanterns mdash to reaching out to India on the medium it loves best televisionWhile NaMo TV may have aggressively made its way on your cable cluster the Sena which identifies its voters in the 40 to 60 age group primarily WhatsApp and Facebook users has launched a series of 13hourlong videos titled Bindaas Bol with its leaders interacting with the FB audience live and taking on questions from citizens They are no Obamas howeverVarun SardesaiThe video quality is not topnotch the lighting could have been better and the candidates have the genuine awkwardness of a generation that didnt take selfies before they said mama But where candidates would otherwise have to fight for five seconds of air time on news channels here they can discuss as Sena MLA and former Mumbai Mayor Sunil Prabhu does in one video what the party has delivered since the last election the Maratha reservationBut their reach isnt limited to the top 5 Facebook WhatsApp Twitter Instagram Snapchat Across party lines other mediums are being used to reach out to many more users For instance in rural Maharashtra Sena uses ShareChat an Indiacreated social media app to share Marathi specific political content making reaching the youth easyVarun Sardesai Yuva Sena member and core team member of the party who handles social media campaigning says While we cannot control what goes in print or the electronic medium on social media we can talk for ourselves and let the citizen take a call on it The viewership can now easily be tapped which was earlier not possible And also the rallies are not centric to the specific area but we also conduct Facebook Lives of our important rallies so that it can be seen by everyone who is unable to be present at that specific locationNo troll policyBut if mudslinging is an Olympic sport in politics trolling is its social media counterpart A category the Nationalist Congress Party seems to want to avoid a victory in this season Having increased its Twitter followers from 1200 to 19k mdash small by most standards mdash the Sharad Pawarled NCP uses its social media platforms to relay its public meetings much like other partiesOn Instagram those who responded to BJP candidate Poonam Mahajans story were linked to a form titled PoonamPhirSe inviting them to join her campaign for a range of volunteer workBut interestingly WhatsApp is not a preferred medium Clyde Crasto social media head NCP Mumbai and Maharashtra spokesperson says We stick to giving outinformation through our verified accounts on Twitter and Facebook instead of Whatsapp as the source of the message cant be traced on this medium Our understanding is clear we do not encourage or indulge in trolling and speak on facts and figures onlyDead on groundAre waving politicians in open jeeps then a thing of the past Not entirely Seasoned politicians who have contested multiple elections say voters still look for that personal touch Vicepresident of Mumbai Congress and threetime MLA Baba Siddique says padyatras remain as effective as beforeToday there is a lot of awareness among electors and online campaign has definitely become a trend There are 17 lakh electors in a constituency and it isnt possible to reach every one But candidates now meet 1520 societies in a single meeting and they have to strike a careful balance with the online campaign so that more people can see what youre doing he saidDave calls it hammer marketing As part of the offline campaign a candidate can at best give 2030 minutes to a group of people The second or third recall is done through social media but it cannot replace the door to door campaign or rallies he addsThe grassroots workers whod earlier knock on your doors follow you on Instagram now And during poll time they no longer need to take leave from day jobs to help the party And yes the firecrackers and loudspeakers have been mildly silenced This is mainly because of the citizens who do not probably appreciate such methods of reaching out to them and also mainly because we as a party do not want to add to any environmental problems says Trushna Vishwasrao a Shiv Sena worker who had contested first BMC election in 199253The number of posts Priya Dutt has put up since being announced Congress candidate on March 13 Her total count since 2012 is a little over 2003000The number of Instagram users who have volunteered for Poonam Mahajans campaign call since March 27 Of these 600 are Mumbai residents Others will participate in creating more traction for her online45mnNo of Indians eligible to vote since the 2014 electionsInputs by Rajendra B Aklekar and Rupsa ChakrabortyCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates