Ranchi: When Jharkhand, a small state having only 81 assembly seats had announced a five-phase poll, then many had anticipated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be visiting the state many times to woo the voters.
As anticipated, PM’s visit to Jharkhand began on Monday just ahead of the first phase voting at Daltonganj and Palamu. However, surprisingly, #GoBackModi was trending on Twitter.
For the first time that Prime Minister received such a rude welcome on the social media platform during his Jharkhand visit.
Last time when Narendra Modi had visited the state, to inaugurate a scheme, even IAS officers had taken on the duty to help the social media team to make #JharkhandwithModi trend.
Twitter is a platform where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Information Technology (IT) cell has had a strong presence, hence making anything trend against Narendra Modi is not an easy task. Earlier during PM’s Tamil Nadu and Kerala tours similar hashtag had trended. But, BJP is the ruling party in Jharkhand, unlike Tamil Nadu or Kerala. This mineral-rich state is also a Hindi belt where BJP has strong supporters on Social Media.
However, surprising, #GoBackModi trending on the top for several hours on Monday during PM’s Jharkhand visit is significant, many believe.
Twitter is a platform where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Information Technology (IT) cell has had a strong presence, hence making anything trend against Narendra Modi is not an easy task. Earlier during PM’s Tamil Nadu and Kerala tours similar hashtag had trended. But, BJP is the ruling party in Jharkhand, unlike Tamil Nadu or Kerala. This mineral-rich state is also a Hindi belt where BJP has strong supporters on Social Media.
And as far as using Twitter is concerned, people of Jharkhand are way behind from Tamil Nadu and Kerala. So, it is a matter of concern when such hashtag trends just ahead of the PM’s visit.
Now, the big question is – Will it have any impact on the ground or other phases of Modi’s campaigning in Jharkhand?
Political analysts believe that it will have an impact. These days, social media build up the mood and enthusiasm of volunteers and voters to deliver on the ground.
But in the last three years of Raghubar Das led BJP government has witnessed at least 23 hunger deaths and 22 deaths due to mob lynching. Not only have these many incidents of lynching made the people of Jharkhand live in fear, but has also angered sensible citizens, especially when union minister Jayant Sinha had garlanded the killers of Ramgarh lynching victim.
Jharkhand, came into existence in 2000, and since then BJP has been in the power for over 14 years now. In the last five years, BJP has claimed of having given a stable government to the people of Jharkhand.
But in the last three years of Raghubar Das led BJP government has witnessed at least 23 hunger deaths and 22 deaths due to mob lynching. Not only have these many incidents of lynching made the people of Jharkhand live in fear, but has also angered sensible citizens, especially when union minister Jayant Sinha had garlanded the killers of Ramgarh lynching victim.
There is widespread anger among tribals for the government’s attempt to amend Chota Nagpur Tenancy Act (CNT) and Santhal Pargana Tenancy (SPT) Act, under which only a tribal can buy or sell lands in areas where this land law is functional. Tribals are also angry as they believe Raghubar government was hell-bent on weakening the fifth schedule. Also, the government has booked thousands of Tribals on the charge of sedition.
When assembly polls were announced, distribution of tickets in BJP too shocked many, right from party insiders to commoners as several contestants, despite hailing from a criminal background and having a history of being corrupt managed to get the ticket from BJP. Contestants like Bhanu Pratap Sahi and Dhullu Mahto got the symbol, but senior leaders like Saryu Roy were not considered worthy.
At present, the situation is so challenging for BJP, that even the Chamber of Commerce, which is considered to be a ruling government-friendly group, has also decided to field its candidate in Ranchi.
PM Modi is scheduled to address six more rallies during the election campaigning in Jharkhand.
