Digital Campaigns Are The New Rallies!

Over the past month, the cases of COVID-19 have taken a toll throughout the nation, with the Omicron strain causing the maximum damage. Amidst the COVID scare, assembly elections are due to be held across five states, namely Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Punjab, Manipur and Uttarakhand. The polls are scheduled to start from February 10, as declared by the Election Commission of India. 

With the current scare of this pandemic, both the Election Commission and the government have ordered all political parties to continue with the digital campaigns for assembly polls and make full use of social media platforms. This step has been taken to control physical contact and suppress the number of active cases.

The social media head of the Congress party has said that they are ready to hold rallies through digital modes, namely Zoom and promote their parties through social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp and more. The Congress party was the first to switch to a virtual rallies mode where they decided to fix LED screens at vital places to promote rallies. They have also started full-blown social media campaigns in Punjab, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur and Uttarakhand. 

Other parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party have also started their virtual campaigns across the states holding assembly elections. They have also stated that holding the assembly polls 2022 amid COVID is very difficult. BJP held online rallies in states like West Bengal during the first and second waves. They have taken the same path this year and have been quite successful.

On the other hand, Samajwadi Party has created a dedicated website to reach out to its people in light of the political impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, many parties like the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is less active on digital media. Hence, they have employed many technical workers who are designated with the job of promoting the party and promoting the rallies virtually.

The steps taken by these parties to promote their rallies even in these conditions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that the nation is moving towards digitization. All these parties have recognized the digital space and social media platforms as a powerful weapon to reach the masses and promote their ideas to perform well in the upcoming assembly elections of 2022. With more and more people engrossed in social media, India’s election landscape is definitely moving towards the digital age! However, will this trend prove to be a boon or a bane for the nation, only time will tell!