- For any quintessential political party and its leaders, one of the most common phenomena is constantly looking for opportunities to consolidate vote banks assiduously and encourage extending reach as far as possible. People closely following the fortunes of political maneuvering in the Indian context would have noticed how the ubiquitous labyrinthine caste equations play a major role. The unique characteristics of the Indian political system are our unabashed preference for upholding the virtues of caste even though the Constitution in no uncertain terms offers equality irrespective of caste, creed, or class. Unfortunately, our political system is so deeply embedded in exploiting the caste conundrum that we know how this always plays out.
PC: NTV English
- The usual trope surrounding our political narrative is the communal versus the secular one. Add to it the by-now-familiar national and regional parties aligning with the two common verticals. Little wonder that the Indian political scenario stands largely polarized. Now, as is their wont, no political party would wish to let go of an opportunity to impress upon the electorate to consolidate the vote banks. Parochial considerations always define our political narrative since the electorate is so eclectic, with wide opportunities to explore society’s fault lines. How can we expect our seasoned politicians to stay away without making inroads into the opportunities available? They are constantly on the move to make count even a half opportunity that may be available.
PC: Mid-Day
- It would be tantamount to an understatement to say that political leaders are always on the lookout to ensure they are not left behind. One-upmanship is the name of the game. The power of the evolving medium, especially the digital world and the various social media platforms, has ensured that our political parties are leaving no stone unturned in capitalizing on them to reach out to the youth. The clamouring to tap into the huge reservoir of social media users has reached stratospheric levels in the last few months. The youth agitation against the NEET-UG fiasco was purely led by social media outreach, galvanized by influencers having a definite sway to encourage more participation. We saw what happened during the Jantar Mantar agitation.
PC: India Today
- Having understood the power of social media platforms, every politician worth their salt, including no less than the Prime Minister himself, has sounded out his colleagues to reach out to universities/colleges to impress upon the youth the developmental agenda. BJP has always been at the forefront in smartly utilizing digital media to reach a wider audience. Even opposition parties have realized how they could galvanize social media platforms to impress upon supporters and potential backers. Expect more outreach endeavours from every political party henceforth, banking on social media platforms, especially targeting youth. Sensing an imminent opportunity, this is where youth should also be demanding in obtaining what is their rightful due.
