Gujarat battle on social media: Cong focuses more on Bharat Jodo Yatra
BJP looks steady, AAP leads with maximum posts on Sunday
New Delhi (PTI): With less than one week left for the high octane poll battle in Gujarat to end, the ruling BJP and new player AAP have intensified their online campaigning to reach out to the voters active on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
At the same time, the Congress' main social media handles have focused more on promoting Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' than the party's campaigning for the two-phase assembly elections on December 1 and 5. Counting of votes will be taken up on December 8.
An analysis of Facebook accounts and Twitter handles last week (Nov 21-27) of the three parties showed that Congress' handles were more attentive to Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', as 75 per cent of the total posts were on the yatra.
Less than 20 per cent of the posts on its Facebook page and the Twitter handle were on the party's campaigning in Gujarat elections.
On the other hand, about 40 per cent of the posts from the Bhartiya Janata Party's main Facebook page and Twitter handle were related to Gujarat polls during the same duration.
The flow of assembly election-related posts was almost the same during the last week, except on Friday when the count of the social posts on the Gujarat polls was the
lowest for the BJP and the other two parties.
However, the Aam Aadmi Party's social media posts from its main handles were ahead of both the BJP and Congress, as every second post from its main
handles was related to the Gujarat elections.
On Sunday, more than 95 per cent of content shared from the AAP's main Facebook and Twitter accounts was on the party's activities in Gujarat.
CONGRESS
Only 15 per cent of the tweets posted by Congress' official Twitter handle during Nov 21-27 were on the Gujarat polls. Out of 280 tweets posted during these seven days, only 42 were related to the party's campaigns and party leaders' rallies in Gujarat.
Congress's main Twitter handle posted 14 out of 35 tweets on the Gujarat elections on Monday (Nov 21). Similarly, the count was 5 out of 23 tweets on Tuesday, 3 out of 42 tweets on Wednesday, 4 out of 47 tweets on Thursday, 1 out of 41 tweets on Friday, three on Saturday, and 12 out of 45 tweets on Sunday (Nov 27).
Similarly, 22 per cent of the Facebook posts shared by the party's official
Facebook page were related to the state elections in Gujarat. Of 242 Facebook posts during the same period, 53 were on Gujarat elections.
On the other hand, 75 per cent of posts from the main handles (198 tweets and 194 Facebook posts) were on the events related to Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra from Monday (Nov 21) to Sunday (Nov 27) last week. The tweet count was the highest (14) on Monday and the lowest on Friday.
Congress party's Twitter handle has 9 million followers, and its Facebook page has 6.3 million followers.
BJP
The BJP maintained the flow of tweets and Facebook posts from its main handles on the party's public rallies in Gujarat. More than 40 per cent of its tweets and above 35 per cent of its Facebook posts shared between November 21 and November 27 were related to the party's campaigning in Gujarat.
BJP's main Twitter handle posted 23 out of 32 tweets on the Gujarat elections on Monday, 38 out of 63 tweets on Tuesday, 20 out of 35 tweets on Wednesday, 13 out of 46 tweets on Thursday, 4 out of 43 tweets on Friday, 15 out of 40 tweets on Saturday, and 14 out of 51 tweets on Sunday.
Similarly, 37 per cent of the Facebook posts shared by the party's official
Facebook page were on Gujarat polls. Out of 169 Facebook posts during the same period, 63 were on the Gujarat elections.
BJP's Twitter handle has 19.5 million followers, and its Facebook page has 16 million followers.
AAP
The AAP, which has made an aggressive entry in Gujarat, promoted the party's
campaigning and its chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's rallies from its main Twitter handle and Facebook page. AAP's main social media handles shared 50 per cent of its tweets and 52 per cent of its Facebook posts on the Gujarat elections in the
same duration.
The party's main Twitter handle posted 131 out of 260 tweets and 81 out of 156 Facebook posts on its leaders' public rallies in Gujarat.
The main Twitter handle posted 25 out of 33 tweets on Monday on Gujarat polls, 31 out of 40 tweets on Tuesday, 11 out of 30 tweets on Wednesday, 13 out of 38 tweets on Thursday, 6 out of 50 tweets on Friday, 13 out of 36 tweets on Saturday, and 32 out of 33 tweets on Sunday.
Similarly, 81 out of 156 Facebook posts, with 93 per cent of its posts on Sunday, were related to the state elections in Gujarat. On the same day, its Twitter handle posted 32 out of 33 tweets on Gujarat only.
The AAP's Twitter handle has 6.4 million followers, and its Facebook page has 5.5 million followers.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
