BJP tapped 10,000 Twitter handles for Modi's event

New Delhi: For the last two weeks, a team of BJP’s youth wing — Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha — had been co-ordinating with more than 10,000 Twitter handles, mainly of party’s volunteers across the globe to make the #HowdyModi at Houston a “historic event” and Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “global leader.” Emphasis was also to “set the tone” for the whole event to highlight the “special bond” between India and US and also to showcase Modi led government’s efforts towards “New India” at the global platform. Mr Modi’s criticism of Pakistan and mentioning of the abrogation of the contentious Article 370 — which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir — were among the top trends of the event on the social media, along with US President Donald Trump’s statement against radical Islamic terrorism.

Most of these volunteers have been associated with the BJP since 2013, when Mr Modi was first named as the prime ministerial candidate of the NDA and have played a key role in disseminating “positive information” about the BJP and the Modi government world-wide. From trending the hashtag #HowdyModi on the social media to broadcasting information ahead of the event to highlighting the event, including Mr Modi and US President Donald Trump’s speeches, these volunteers played an important role in “making the event a mega hit.”

To assist these volunteers across the globe, BJP’s nearly 100 members were also present at the venue - NRG Stadium - updating with real time information and photographs. BJP volunteers were also tasked to get other Twitter handles of Mr Modi and BJP supporters in their countries to tweet and retweet about the event. Not just the volunteers, the BJP was also co-ordinating with the organisers of the event and the Indian diaspora in the US, who had been reaching out to them on the social media platforms seeking information. The standing ovation to the US President, including by Mr Modi, was one of the “main highlights” of the tweets and retweets by the volunteers.

Back home, even BJP leaders were busy tweeting and retweeting about the “historic event.”

“A historic day in world politics! Leaders of the two most powerful democracies shared their ideas & dreams for a prosperous world together in a way that one has never seen before. #HowdyModi was unprecedented,” Union home minister Amit Shah tweeted.