Why Congress failed: BJP, Modi have mastered communication skill on social media like none others

By Pratik Sinha*
Perceptions matter a lot. Before 2014 elections, a question was constantly asked on social media by many people as to what Congress did for 60 years, a question originally floated by BJP. Though the question itself is ridiculous, but since it went unanswered for the most part, it became part of the psyche of many - Congress did nothing for 60 years.
Social Media has been around for well over 10 years. Congress President Sonia Gandhi doesn't have any social media accounts while Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi made one only in 2014. Most senior Congress leaders, with the exception of Shashi Tharoor, joined social media just a few months before the elections.
Even the main Twitter account of India's 'oldest political party' had far less number of followers than the Aam Aadmi Party Twitter account which had been in politics only for 3 years at that point of time.
Even if Congress wished to communicate, it did not have the means to reach the huge middle class population which increasingly relies on social media and online media for news/information rather than news papers. Their spectacular failure at realizing the importance of social media and communication was one of the many reasons why they were reduced to 44.
In comparison, BJP has a social media reach that is unprecedented. Just their WhatsApp network is so enormous that even the smallest rumour/achievement is broadcasted across the breadth of the country in no time. While Congress leaders continue to be dormant on social media for the most part, BJP leaders are ultra-active.
Every small achievement including the electrification of a single village anywhere in India is broadcasted as an achievement and distributed across their network. While over 90% of the electrification of about 6 lakh inhabited villages across India happened before the Modi government, what people would remember is the 10,000 odd villages that were electrified since BJP came into power.
Such is the power of communication and BJP and Modi have mastered it like none other.
---
*Source: https://www.facebook.com/PratikSinhaDotCom

A fearless spirit lost: Rebecca Thomson dies at 17-hour Catalina Swim Mark

By Harsh Thakor On July 26, 2026, Rebecca “Becky” Thomson suffered cardiac arrest while attempting the Catalina Channel Swim — a marathon open water crossing from Catalina Island to the California mainland. After swimming for 17 hours, Thomson collapsed in the water. Despite the painstaking efforts of emergency responders and the medical staff at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, she succumbed to a devastating hypoxic brain injury and died Friday evening.

Right to walk, right to livelihood: Clearing footpaths 'can't mean' clearing out the urban poor

By Aseem Mishra* India’s cities are locked in a quiet but intensifying struggle over one of their most contested public spaces: the footpath. For pedestrians, a footpath is basic infrastructure—a strip of ground that should allow people to move safely, independently and with dignity. For millions of informal workers, the same stretch of pavement is a workplace, a source of daily income and often the difference between survival and destitution.

Hyderabad-based Urdu university "bars" entry of its new chancellor, who had "initiated" reforms in institute

Counterview Desk In an unusual controversy, Aslam Parvaiz, vice-chancellor of of the Hyderabad-based Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) has restricted the entry of its newly appointed Chancellor, Firoz Bakht Ahmed, allegedly because he was trying to initiate reforms, including setting up of a Maulana Azad Center for Composite Culture and Progressive Studies, Model Madrasa, Center for Empowerment of Muslim Women, Course for the Development of Legal Vocabulary and Legal Consciousness in Urdu, and so on.

Counterview

Search This Blog