This story is from July 2, 2020

Bihar turns testing ground for first digital electioneering in country

Bihar has become the proving ground for the idea of digital electioneering in India. The state will be the first since Independence to hold an assembly election without the noisy, dusty rallies attended by thousands, thanks to the raging Covid-19 pandemic.
Bihar turns testing ground for first digital electioneering in country
BJP leader and Bihar deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi
PATNA: Bihar has become the proving ground for the idea of digital electioneering in India. The state will be the first since Independence to hold an assembly election without the noisy, dusty rallies attended by thousands, thanks to the raging Covid-19 pandemic.
As the October-November poll looms, digital electioneering by all political parties have gained momentum, especially after the chief electoral officer directed all DMs to begin preparations for the election.

The ruling NDA partner BJP was the first off the block with its former president Amit Shah addressing a virtual rally in the first week of June. He then went on to repeat the feat in Bengal, which will be up for election after Bihar.
The saffron party has organised 39 rallies so far, including three at Lakhisarai, Araria and Bhagalpur on Wednesday.
“Digital electioneering is good as it would save a lot of money that leaders used to spend on hiring helicopters to attend 4-5 rallies in a day. Now, it can be done by spending Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 and it has a great reach even in the remotest areas,” said BJP leader and deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi.
He, however, did not fail to mention that door- to- door campaign would be the most effective way to reach out the common people. “Door- of- door campaign would remain the same even during the pandemic. Big rallies by political leaders, however, would be replaced with virtual rallies because it is not possible to organise large gatherings,” he added.

BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand said virtual rallies are now the safest and best way to interact with people. “We are conducting online meeting on a daily basis with national, state and district leaders. The party would hold 243 virtual rallies in different constituencies,” he said.
LJP president Chirag Paswan is also conducting daily video meetings with party office bearers. LJP spokesman Ashraf Ansari said the party completed the first round of campaigning via its ‘Bihar first, Bihari first’ rally which had to be stopped due to Covid-19. “Now, we will connect with the voters through virtual rallies in the coming days,” he said.
JD (U) spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad said they are waiting for the Election Commission guidelines even though it is clear that physical rallies may not be feasible. “We are trying to strengthen our digital platforms. If the situation would get better than we’ll think of holding rallies towards the end of electioneering campaign,” he said.
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar addressed several virtual ‘Samvad’ with district leaders between June 7 and June 12. “Such samvads would be organised on a large scale in the future. In the meantime, we are also gearing up for virtual rallies,” Rajiv said.
Congress is also establishing a strong digital network. MLC Prem Chandra Mishra said the party is encouraging its workers to reach out to people through social media. “We have started digital party membership to increase our reach. This membership has a centralised connectivity, letting people know about the rallies, meetings and others. So far, I conducted four meetings on Facebook live and around 48,000 people connected,” he said.
He added, “WhatsApp groups have also been created to connect to party workers. We are preparing for virtual rallies, it will likely to start from July- end when Rahul Gandhi would address the people of Bihar.”
However, main opposition RJD is still reluctant to switch to the virtual format.
RJD spokesperson-cum-general secretary Chitranjan Gagan said there is no plan for virtual rallies at the moment as it has less effect on voters especially those in remote areas. “Besides, it will be a costly affair to set up a screen in each booth. There are about 72,000 booths and it is expected to increase. If we spend Rs 20,000 on installation of each screen to reach out the people, then it would be a huge amount. By helicopter, we cover 7-8 rallies per day,” he said.
“Physical rallies and direct address to the common people is more appealing,” Gagan added.
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About the Author
Faryal Rumi

She is working with the Times of India as a Senior Digital Content Creator on the Patna desk.

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