2017 poll campaign reaches social media: SP to hardsell ‘Brand Akhilesh’ to youths
To connect with youth and professionals ahead of next year’s Assembly polls, Samajwadi Party’s frontal organisation Lohia Vahini has been engaged to project Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav as a brand and publicise his achievements using social networking sites. Akhilesh himself maintains active accounts on Facebook and Twitter. In the first phase of the programme, students in universities and colleges and professionals working in private sectors in the National Capital Region including Ghaziabad, Noida, and Greater Noida are being targeted. The SP has already prepared its election promotion song — ‘Sabka Saathi Akhilesh, Pragati ka Shri Ganesh’ highlighting the achievements of the Akhilesh government.
“It is our effort to connect with youths who are not so inclined towards SP but like Akhilesh Yadav. We understand that educated youths do not connect easily with our party. So, SP will not be engaged with it and it will be a personal effort to connect the youths with Akhilesh,” Pankhuri Pathak, national secretary, Lohia Vahini, told The Indian Express. As part of the campaign, students and youths in NCR region are being contacted on social networking sites and asked to provide their details and also refer their friends. These youths will be given contents on Akhilesh and his government’s schemes in a properly-designed format. Those who actively take part will have the opportunity to meet the CM. “These youths will share and promote the content on social networking sites. They can also re-create the design of the content,” Pathak said, adding that students from several educational institutions such as Amity University, IMS and others have already shown interest. “We have been flooded with requests from over half-a-dozen institutions. Soon, we will start an induction programme and take over the social networking sites with our aggressive campaign,” the Delhi-based SP spokesperson said. She added that the campaign will be later extended to other parts of the state. At present, a few close associates of the CM run the campaign.
