THE LEVERAGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY ON THE 16 TH INDIAN ELECTIONS BY NINA CHOHAN

THE MAIN COMPETITORS Narendra Modi Prime minister candidate from the Bharatiiya Janta Party (BJP)-led Democratic Alliance, India’s second largest political party. Top political official for Gujarat, a state of India. If BJP comes out on top during the elections, he will become Prime Minister

THE MAIN COMPETETORS Rahul Gandhi Vice President of the Indian National Congress party, chairperson of the Indian Youth Congress and National Students Union of India Son of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, his mother is currently the President of the Congress party Will become Prime Minister if his party wins

RECORD BREAKERS There are million voters placing ballots this year, (out of the 1.2 billion overall population) and over 100 million of this population are first time voters. This year makes the eighth year that the voting age was decreased from age 21 to age 18 through the 61 st Amendment Act in This is the second most expensive election in world history (behind the 2012 U.S. Presidential campaign), costing about 301,150,000,000 Rupees, which is equivalent to $5 billion USD.

INDIA’S YOUTH HAS BECOME THE MAIN TARGET Two thirds of the Indian population is under the age of 35. This accounts for 60% of the voting population. 200 Million Internet Users 93 Million Facebook accounts 33 Million Twitter accounts Second largest Twitter and Facebook usage in the world, behind the United States Traditional campaigns are not enough anymore. The youth is best reached with the usage of Social Media and modern technology.

TWITTER Modi has been able to gain 3.74 million followers on his personal Twitter account. Gandhi does not have a personal Twitter account, but only one made by his supporters. Modi sends out personalized Tweets to his followers in order to try and get more personal contact with them to learn what they want to see from him if he were to become Prime Minister.

FACEBOOK Modi has 12 million likes on his official Facebook page, while Gandhi only has a little over 300,000, and is not offically verified as his own personal fan page.

WHY IS SOCIAL MEDIA SO IMPORTANT? Traditional campaign strategies are still used, such as public rallies and billboard posters. However, how much of India’s younger generation is most likely to participate in these rallies, or really pay attention to these billboards? Social media is the dwelling place for India’s younger urban city goers. It is much more efficient to gain their support and vote by contacting them through Facebook or Twitter rather than mails and posters. Modi is famous for the use of social media and technology in his campaign. He sends out personal tweets to his followers, and encourages online interaction between himself and his supporters through question and answer sessions.

OBAMAFICATION OF MODI’S CAMPAIGN Modi’s campaign team, dubbed as “Team Modi,” has studied U.S. President Barack Obama’s campaign style and have adapted some of his tactics and strategies. While there are still traditional campaigning techniques used, Obama’s techniques are proving to be the most impactful.

OBAMAFICATION OF MODI’S CAMPAIGN “Barack Obama Dashboard” allowed for the organization of volunteers, and ranked them on a point-based system. Obama launched a different Twitter account for each state in the USA. Obama used a Google+ Hangout to conduct a question and answer session, drawing out about 200,000 viewers. Modi launched “India 272+ Initiative,” that functions the same way as Obama Dashboard, but whoever has the most points gets a one-on-one meeting with Modi himself. Modi created several different twitter accounts for each language spoken in India (i.e., Malaylam, Telugu, Marathi) Modi also used a Google+ Hangout for the same purpose, and drew out about 4 million viewers, as well as hundreds of thousands questions. SOCIAL MEDIA

ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES EVMs were introduced to India in 1998 in the assembly elections of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh in Delhi. 170,000 new machines will be used during this election. Not even used in the United States These machines prevent rigging and tampering with votes completely. They are more efficient, and even allow for those who are illiterate to have less problems voting. Each EVM costs about 5,500 rupees (roughly $91 USD), which is significantly less than the cost of paper ballets and ballet boxes together