KASARGOD: The camera follows a young girl walking down the corridor of a newly built school. She makes a slow turn to face the camera. "The schools in Kerala were not like this before. Dilapidated school buildings are a thing of the past," she says.
Another schoolgirl is quick to add, "Development projects worth crores of rupees were implemented using funds raised by KIIFB (Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB)".
The video released by the CPM's Cyber Wing in Muliyar panchayat has several testimonies. "I get my pension at my doorstep every month," says an elderly man spotting a grey stubble.
Each testifier returns at the end of the 45-second video clip to say, "LDF verum, Muliyarum Marum" (LDF will win, Muliyar will also change).
The CPM-led LDF has launched a blitz campaign on social media for its candidates to wrest control of Muliyar panchayat from the UDF. The content, which includes promos, posters, video testimonials, and videos introducing the candidates, is created at the panchayat level.
"We have a cyber team for each of the 41 local bodies in Kasaragod. Each team comes up with a campaign tailor-made for their respective local body," said Rajith Kadam, a CPM worker co-ordinating the social media campaign in five border panchayats -- Muliyar, Karaduka, Kumbadaje, Belloor, and Delampady.
In Muliyar panchayat, the key members of the CPM's cyber cell are Rahul Iriyanni, a young video editor and director, and Athish Bepu, a class IX student of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Periya.
Athish learned video editing during the pandemic. Rahul, after his Class IX, pursued a hospital management course and will be joining a hotel in Dubai in December.
"Rahul is very talented and we wanted to send him to a film institute but circumstances at his house forced him to take up the job in Dubai," says Athish's father Anil Bepu, who was with an event management company in Dubai before the COVID.
Every afternoon after Athish's online classes, his house -- bordering a forest at Iriyanni -- turns into the CPM's Muliyar cyber cell where the youths work till midnight to create social media content for their candidates.
With restrictions on public gatherings and house visits in place owing to Covid-19, political parties have shifted most of their campaigns to Facebook and WhatsApp with good effect.
"WhatsApp is the preferred platform to reach out to the rural population," says Rajith Kadam.
The videos and posters of the LDF candidates talk of the LDF government's achievements such as building rural roads and implementation of drinking water projects.
'Voicing' their motto
If the youths are creating the content for the LDF campaign, the UDF is banking on Balakrishnan Periya, the general secretary of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee.
Balakrishnan, who is also a radio jockey and voice artiste, set up a studio, Sound Park, in Periya just before the local body elections expecting the demand for social media content from candidates.
Most of the content generated by his six-member team are template animation videos announcing the candidate on a moving jeep, and videos of candidates introducing themselves, and conversations with voters. The content is shared among UDF supporters and family members in the respective panchayats and wards.
"As of now, we are not bringing out testimonial videos to counter the LDF," says Balakrishnan. He says the LDF's testimonial videos will backfire because he alleges they are not rooted in reality.
In East Eleri panchayat, where the dominant Congress is facing an entrenched rebellion in the form of Democratic Development Front (DDF), Balakrishnan has started East Eleri Radio, a Facebook news channel. Initially, the content was unbiased news to get more followers. Now, it is political, subtly promoting Congress candidates. "We are sure to benefit from its reach too," says the Congress leader.
Among the UDF candidates, Youth Congress leader Jomon Jose -- contesting from the Chittarikkal division of the district panchayat -- is much ahead in promoting his concerns digitally.
In one of his campaign videos, a rubber tapper laments the low price of rubber. Jose cuts into the video to promise the electorate that he would strive to bring in a package for the farmers of the hill panchayats.
In another video, he turns the lens on his rural upbringing and farmer family. The videos were made by Balakrishnan's studio. Till now, he has made content for around 30 candidates, a few of them are from the LDF.
"In a week, I am expecting to make content for most of the UDF candidates in Kasaragod," he said. He is already sleep-deprived. At night, he works in the studio, and in the day time, he attends UDF poll conventions.
He charges a nominal fee from UDF candidates but provides them with content.
"For the LDF candidates, I charge the market rate and they will have to come with the content," he says.
Candidates are also turning to Facebook to increase their reach. "In the past three days, I got 28 friend requests on Facebook. Of the 20 are candidates from across Kasaragod," said A P Vinod, a former journalist, and resident of Cherupuzha in Kannur district.
In the 2015 local body election, East Eleri panchayat was covered with billboards of DDF candidates. "Now, they are all on Facebook. You will hardly find billboards in the panchayat," he said.
'Well-researched videos'
The LDF camp -- steered by young amateurs -- is aggressive and attractive in its messaging. In border panchayats such as Kumbadaje, Karaduka, Belloor, and Delampady, the CPM's cyber wing brings out content in Kannada and Tulu, too, to counter the BJP.
"Though the videos and posters are made by the youths, the content is meticulously researched by party seniors. We also tap into the LDF's manifesto for each panchayat for content," says Rajith Kadam. "But troll videos are shared more," he says.
In Karaduka panchayat, the BJP brought out a poster saying an amount of Rs 75 lakh lapsed under the LDF's rule in the last year. The panchayat was controlled by the BJP for the first four years. But the LDF joined hands with the UDF to topple the BJP in the last year.
"When we checked, we found that the BJP's charge was true. So we did not deny it. But our research team found that in the previous six years of the BJP's rule, an amount of Rs 7.02 crore lapsed in the panchayat," said Rajith.
"So we went to town with the counter poster," he said. Now, he has asked his teams to find the funds lapsed in every panchayat controlled by the opposition and make posters.
He says the BJP's videos and posters rarely make it to Facebook, posing a challenge for the LDF to counter it. "The BJP's content stays in its WhatsApp ecosystem," he says.
Caste is another hurdle political parties are finding to overcome. People give preference to their castes while voting and political parties feed into it by fielding candidates from the dominant caste.
"There is no need for candidates to seek votes on the basis of caste and so there is no way to counter it too," said Rajith.