Unlike his predecessor Dr Manmohan Singh, who assumed office just after the birth of Facebook (2004) and before Twitter (2006) and demitted office after the Facebook had registered a billion users and Twitter has more than 28 crores, the incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi started to use the social media effectively preceding the General Elections 2014.
While the Prime Minister-manqué LK Advani made his presence feebly on online as his dream started to fade before Modi’s ascent within the BJP albeit he wanted to lead the party. Advani writes in the epilogue of his autobiography My Country My Life: In future too, I shall perform any duty that Destiny may assign to me with the same aspiration: make my humble seva towards ensuring that India becomes more united, stronger and stands taller, with its Tomorrow brighter than its (sic) Today.
As the poll bugle began in 2013, Narendra Modi foresaw tomorrow in yesterday and today, and pitched himself as the undisputed emerged leader and as the experienced chief minister to lead the BJP: and, he was ahead of Advani on social media too. As the BJP’s central leadership under Rajnath Singh announced the then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate, Modi’s presence on Internet saw a steep rise.
A team operated for Modi in Ahmedabad on his image and accomplishments on the social media while he also directly reached out to the masses both digital and Internet-less Indians. Following the spectacular win for the BJP (all the opinion polls failed in their forecasting: no one predicted 281 Lok Sabha seats!), and after assuming the office, Prime Minister Modi continued to reach out to the Digital India via Twitter, and also through All India Radio (Mann ki Baat).
People in public life (politics, glamour and showbiz industry) and also the bloggers are rated by their followers. Prime Minister Modi is the most popular politician in terms of the numbers of followers on Twitter, and far ahead of his political peers within and outside the party save for Shashi Tharoor, the Tiruvananthapuram MP from Congress.
Modi has emerged as the role model for many across the country especially in the socio-political and electoral arena to connect to their constituents apart for filial and family connectivity: sharing. He embraced the utility in Internet. He saw the power in the youthfulness of the social media even as it failed to strike a chord with Congress heir-apparent Rahul Gandhi. Modi sought it to communicate with India: in 140 characters including space and punctuation marks.
He is robustly using the power of Twitter since he became the Prime Minister to communicate with the large audience. He is sending a message through Twitter that he is active, reacting and monitoring India for Achche Din and Swachh Bharat. One can infer that he is connecting to Digital India, communicating to the world, expressing his thoughts and actions for the country. He is bypassing the traditional and established media entities and professionals: talk directly! (Why to rely on that media baron or this press baroness who are anyway prejudiced).
Social media websites are the 21st century’s mass media in spite of all their perils.
For Modi’s analysts and critics, his messages on Twitter is the only window to gauge his mind, and for journalists to report on his actions. By choosing not to appoint any journalist as his Media Advisor, he chose to communicate via Twitter and AIR.
His message to the Fourth Estate: gone are the days we needed you!
He effusively praised Sanjay Baru at the time of General Elections for writing The Accidental Prime Minister (by writing this he had ensured no other Prime Minister will ever entrust his job for any other journalist for the covetable post unless his or her trust and loyalty were proven). But whatever he tweets it is almost a treat for the beat reporters of PMO especially on news-less Tuesdays.
United Kingdom's Labour Party leader Ed Miliband once told at the working-class town of Harlow that his followers on Twitter are more than the circulation of The Independent!
But the problem with the social media websites is that they are highly impersonal (who would genuinely feel thankful to you if you wish him or her for a birthday or an anniversary on the social media except for Indian Diaspora communicating to their kith and kin in Hindustan?) and not-so tangible.
Modi's tweets on Twitter should start to show substance: tangible benefits of his governance and personal growth in terms of income and quality of life for the people. Modi is going to complete one year in office this month. The country needs deliverance as the deliverer was voted (or was it the BJP) to lead the nation for a better and brighter India. Statements, slogans and twitters will not do as the summer entrenches and many households will be without electricity.
Chaiwallahs need clean water (piped water (but it is a state subject!), rickshahwallahs need e-rickshaws and the license to ply them without being harassed by local police, religious minorities need to feel a secure and safe environment unlike the Sangh Pariwar’s unrestrained acts (gharwapsi) and other beefy laws in BJP-ruled states (but law & order is also a state subjects); unemployed youth needs employment for the which the Centre can act either by spending taxpayer’s money for building the infrastructure including toilets in schools or by attracting FDI into Bharat.
By using Twitter, Prime Minister Modi may communicate to a wide audience but the message is too short. It is almost unidirectional like a newspaper without a website but still publishing ‘letters to the editor’.
He has 12 million followers but he only follows 1213. He ought to hear more diverse voices of the Mother India: an establishmentarian at the JNU campus, antidisestablishmentarian in Nagpur, from almost India-less Nagaland, from the voices of the Red Corridor and the Silicon Valley of India and a peasant with Internet-connectivity.
Digital India needs Achche Din like the telephone-less and Internet-less India. Unless the Achche Din are felt from chaiwallahs to graduates, small-scale and marginal farmers to start-up geeks across the country, and a ray of hope by the rightist fraternity in weaning the ills of Hindustan and uplifting its image as the modern and Developed India, Prime Minister will not be able to see the repeat of 2014 unless the Modi-Shah duo has an unspent electoral genie.
(Ganapati Reddy is a journalist and media teacher. He taught journalism at various colleges in England. He has also worked as a reporter in India and United Kingdom. Online journalism and social media are his areas of interest. He divides his time between London, Sweden and India. He can be reached at - [email protected])
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