Even as the walls of the city start donning hues symbolising the upcoming political clash being touted as the end of communism in West Bengal, walls of a different kind have become the debating ground for voters and leaders alike, looking to vent and garner support, respectively.
In West Bengal, both Facebook and Twitter are picking up on the election cacophony on three basic levels. First, politicians have made use of the social networking websites for garnering support and whipping up discussions.
Among others, personalities like commerce and industries minister Nirupam Sen, CPI(M) veteran and West Bengal tourism minister, Manab Mukherjee, Mamata loyalist and quizmaster, Derek O’Brien, and first-time assembly hopeful Manish Gupta are present and active on the virtual world of networking.
Manab Mukherjee, for example, has over 5,000 friends on Facebook. He uses the forum not just for communicating his plan of action after not being given a ticket, but has updated posts questioning Mamata Banerjee’s ‘Paribartan’ (change) campaign.
“Price rise?’ ‘Paribartan’ hobe na...Corruption? ‘Paribartan’ hobe na...State Govt? ‘Paribartan’ korte hobe’”, read a recent Facebook post, which roughly means, “No change against inflation, or corruption, the sole change the opposition wants is against the state government in Bengal.”
From the Trinamool Congress scheme of things, the face of social networking is Derek O’Brien, one of the faces of Banerjee’s ‘Paribartan’ campaign. He’s taken the Twitter route often, for activities ranging from canvassing to making announcements about seat allocation.
“Soooon…candidate list will be announced by Mamata Banerjee to the Press in Kalighat...also will go up on www.aitmc.org; still a battle to be won...every vote counts,” O’Brien, who has over 7,000 tweets and about 29,500 followers tweeted recently.
Also predominant are ‘fake’ accounts -- celebrity politicians across political parties have online doppelgangers. Chief ministerial candidate and Trinamool Congress (TMC) head Mamata Banerjee, not a Twitterati herself, has fake accounts running in her name on Facebook and on Twitter.
These pages are run by followers and often unofficially by party personnel to keep leaders in the “loop” of the young voters. So, while Rahul Gandhi, who campaigned extensively for the Youth Congress elections, might have kept himself away from Facebook and Twitter, fake accounts keep his presence steady there.
Groups relating to both support and hate form the third level mentioned earlier, enhancing participation on Facebook. The fact that approximately 4,000 people support Mamata Banerjee fan pages is common knowledge but more recently a Facebook group, ‘We hate Mamata Banerjee’ has gathered support as well.
“Bankrupt Banerjee…spineless Manmohan,” wrote Subhashish Banerjee on the group’s homepage recently, while another group supporter questioned her honesty. “Is it not proved already that she is hand in glove with Maoists? There is no clarity on education and healthcare policies,” ranted Saugata Sarkar.
Also updated on the group homepage was a scanned copy of a letter by the Railway Board, dated about a year before, accusing the minister of having spent more money on inauguration and party functions than allowed. An indication, again, of Facebook being used as a domain for sharing “secret” information.
“Social networking platforms afford a thinking politician the space to connect and initiate dialogue with voters in the 18-35 age groups. The fact that the media is tracking every celebrity’s move on social networking means it is also a device for idea dissemination,” said advertising and marketing honcho Suhel Seth, explaining the medium’s viability.
On Facebook, a Mamata Banerjee support page now has 1,600 members, while the Trinamool Congress across multiple pages have in excess of 3,000 supporters, which for the CPI(M) means a drubbing in the virtual world. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has just 400 supporters on Facebook, while the CPI(M) has about 2,000 support members only.
