Congress To Hire 50 Social Media Activists For 2014 General Elections. Isn’t It Late?

Social media may not influence voters to walk to the voting booth and politicians very well know it. But, they also know that today debates happen on platforms like Twitter. The ruling government which is backed by the country’s oldest political party, Congress has been working on beefing up its social media activities. According to Indiawires, Congress is looking to hire 50 social media activists in its office in Delhi, to help campaign for the upcoming Loksabha elections or General elections in 2014.

The story based on a report in the Economic Time, stresses on the job description that highlights the following requirements:

1. Researching parliamentary constituencies,

2. Issues occupying voters’ minds,

3. And closely monitoring what is going viral on the internet.

Initiatives of Congress on social media

The Congress party took time to understand the importance of social media but of late, it has been quite active. From investing on social media to asking its influential politicians to be active on the medium, the political party is competing with its opposition BJP on social media too.

In the beginning of 2013, Kapil Sibal expressed that the Congress party would require Rs. 100 crore during the next 18 months i.e. till the Lok Sabha elections to counter its main opponent BJP on the social media field. These figures were quoted at the Chintan Shivir, where the party also accepted that the opposition party has been leading the war on social media.

Later we also heard that a 35 member team has been formed to counter the social media strategies of its opposition. In addition to all this, the AICC roped in Twitter influentials like Shashi Tharoor, Shah Rukh Khan, Shabana Azmi and other techno savvy leaders to spread its message.

Later in the month of April, it was announced that All India Congress Party, that has been ruling the country for the last two terms, has finally started scouting for a suitable digital or social media agency.

Now we are being told that it is hiring 50 talented social media professionals. But will it be able to cope with the already existing, well trained social media machinery in place by BJP?

Can it compete with Modi’s social media team?

Recently we shared that the Gujarat CM is giving it his all for the 2014 General Elections and in doing so, he has assigned Rajesh Jain and BG Mahesh to drive his social media campaign. The successful duo is now making sure that BJP comes into power in next elections and for that they are putting together a 100-member content and technology team in Bangalore to drive Modi’s internet campaign.

Whether it is with creating a presence on social networks or conducting the most successful Hangout by any Indian politician, Modi has done it successfully. Recently he was again in the news for a statement he made while interacting with the BJP Maharashtra cell – “Get me 48 lakh social media id’s from the 48 lok sabha seats in the state.”

It would be an interesting wait-and-watch to understand the social media strategy of Congress. But isn’t it too late considering the General elections are just round the corner?