New Delhi: A group of young Delhi BJP social media volunteers, along with carrying out the party online campaign, is also identifying issues from the ground and informing candidates about the same to include in their campaign strategy. The volunteers equipped with an app, VMS (volunteer management system), are instantly updating the central team and candidates about the real poll issues from the ground. A team of 700 volunteers, with the help of the party’s IT cell, is managing the social media campaign of BJP for the upcoming civic polls.
Delhi BJP’s IT cell convener, Sumit Bhasin, told this newspaper that the VMS is equipped with all the details like every street and residential unit of each of the 272 municipal wards. “A group of three volunteers has been deployed in each of the 272 wards. These young volunteers keep us updated about the ground realities. We send this information to the candidates to draw their strategy accordingly. We also help them identify promises they must include in their ‘Sankalp Patra’ (poll promises) for their respective wards,” added Mr Bhasin.
Through the VMS app, which uses Google map, the party is also updating itself about which areas are covered and which are not by the volunteers and candidates.
For the first time, the Delhi BJP IT cell has synchronised its online and offline campaign.
“It was done to talk about similar agendas and issues in the real and virtual world,” said Kunal Kapur, a member of the Delhi BJP social media team. Mr Kapur claimed that in the last 20 days, their hashtags trended 19 days nationally for nearly 10 hours. The party has also designed special saffron coloured T-shirts for all the volunteers of Delhi BJP social media campaign with the party symbol on one arm and “BJP 4 MCD” on the another.
These 700 odd volunteers are giving a minimum of two hours to the party social media campaign. “There is no fixed timing for volunteers and they dedicate their time as per their convenience. We are dedicating minimum two hours and a maximum of an entire day to the party,” said Abhishek Sharma, another volunteer.
The central team of the IT cell has also provided training to the social media team of the party’s district and 280 mandal (block) teams.
