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Even before she could kick-start any of her projects as the new head of state, Gujarat’s first woman chief minister Anandiben Patel has already seen her following on the micro-blogging site twitter more than double within a week of being sworn in.
Often compared to her predecessor for her workaholic, no-nonsense, strict taskmaster attributes, Patel too has taken on a road travelled by Narendra Modi, making her presence felt on social networking sites like facebook and twitter, and use the medium to connect directly with the masses. Her followers on twitter swelled from 5,047 on May 21, the day her name was announced as the next chief minister of Gujarat to 11,400 on June 1. It had crossed the 10,000 mark, on May 29, exactly a week after she was sworn in on May 22.
Patel has been regular on twitter in the last few days as well, posting around 28 tweets in as many as 10 days. Her journey on twitter so far comprises 1,382 tweets, and 64 photos and videos. With over 200 million internet users in the country, and the number is steadily climbing, the importance of social networking is definitely increasing for India’s new age politicians.
A look at Anandiben’s recent tweets explains this; she has consistently tweeted about the projects and initiatives undertaken by the government, besides using the platform to also connect with people. On May 28, she tweeted, “We have launched i-Kisan portal and mobile application.I urge our farmers to use this to get extensive information about agro oriented crops.” This has been retweeted 200 times, and 136 users have indicated the tweet as their favourite.
Earlier, the same day, Patel had tweeted, “On my way to Morbi to inaugurate Krishi Mahotsav. Share your innovative ideas on how can we further empower Agriculture in Gujarat!”
In times when politicians are expected to be adept administrators, connecting with the voter base, taking their feedback or at least making them feel involved, can emerge as a winning strategy for the suave politician.
