Lok Sabha Elections 2024: WhatsApp becomes key to BJP's '370-paar' agenda; party reaches over 1 lakh new people each day

Politicians and parties have fought tooth and nail to woo the voters in their favour and while election speeches, rallies, and manifestos certainly make up a chunk of poll strategies, the use of WhatsApp has emerged as an integral part of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) campaign.

By reaching 1,00,000 to 1,50,000 new people each day through WhatsApp, the saffron party considers it to be an important medium to meet their '370-paar' target, as per a BBC report.

"I have 400-450 WhatsApp groups which each have about 200-300 members. Apart from this, I have about 5,000 direct contacts. In this way, I personally reach 10-15,000 people every day," the publication quoted BJP's social media coordinator for Meerut Lok Sabha constituency as saying.

India being WhatsApp's biggest market has crores of users who spend hours on the messaging platform. BJP's WhatsApp campaign is a tightly controlled one where messages from party headquarters are received by volunteers in various constituencies who then circulate it.

While WhatsApp is considered to be a better platform to reach the young, the volunteers believe that those aged above 40 are more active on Facebook.

No one in the party is spared from the WhatsApp campaign, the report said.

"Each member of the party, from the bottom to the very top, including the party president, is responsible for 60 voters," Vipin Vipala, in charge of campaigning for BJP in Meerut, told the publication.

Apart from just messaging on the WhatsApp groups, personal touch is also important for the party to establish a connect with voters.

"We have to continuously make face-to-face contact with the 60 people assigned to us and encourage them to vote for the BJP. It's also our responsibility to take their mobile numbers and include them in our messaging groups," Vipala added.

The BBC report claimed that many messages on the various WhatsApp groups also charged the Congress of appeasement politics, accusing it of "converting India into an Islamic country" during their rule.

DH reported in March this year, WhatsApp continues to be the mainstay for poll-time messaging. As per leaders of the party privy to the process, the party’s IT Cell manages over 50 lakh WhatsApp groups to disseminate poll-related information.

Meanwhile, WhatsApp's spokesperson Christina LoNigro told the Rest of World that the company encourages people to use the platform "responsibly".

“WhatsApp engages with political entities ahead of major elections to emphasise our approach to safety...We encourage people to use WhatsApp responsibly and ban accounts for violating our terms of service."

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