Karnataka Polls: BJP’s Social Media Targets Hindu Vote Bank

In the run-up to the Karnataka assembly elections scheduled to be held on May 12, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) social media strategy has resorted to the predictable – stirring the Hindu-Muslim conflict to woo the majority Hindu vote bank. Although religious polarisation has always been the electoral tactic of the saffron party, it has chosen to intensify it, perhaps, following the expansion of the Hindutva outfits within the South Indian state. With the penetration of smartphones and internet into almost every corner of the state, BJP’s digital war room has been populating the virtual space with massive communal content – mostly comprising hate and fake news.

For the digital outreach, political parties use online platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp for disseminating their propaganda. A closer look at the content pushed by the BJP’s social media team reveals their strategy for the Karnataka Polls. For instance, in February, when Congress party President Rahul Gandhi was campaigning in the state, BJP’s chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa tweeted: “I heartily welcome #ElectionHindu Rahul Gandhi to Bellari.” Immediately, BJP’s social media team picked up the hashtag ‘#ElectionHindu’ to troll their rival Congress party. Reportedly, the troll campaign got traction from nearly 3 lakh people in just eight hours.

Recently, an NIA special court has acquitted five persons related to Hindutva outfits in 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case. As soon as the verdict was delivered, #HinduVirodhiCongress started trending on Twitter. “#HinduVirodhiCongress the term ‘Hindu terror or saffron terror’ coined by Congress, which was never exist… shame on Congress, must apologize for making false statements against Hindus,” tweeted one BJP supporter.

Recently, a provocative speech video of the BJP MLA Sanjay Patil from Belagavi constituency went viral. “This election is not about roads, water or other issues. This election is about Hindus vs Muslims, Ram Mandir vs Babri Masjid,” Patil said during the campaigning. Karnataka police booked an FIR against Patil, after the video supposedly leaked from BJP WhatsApp groups.

Propaganda against Muslims

The BJP leaders in the state have been claiming that the “jihadi terror” killed more than 20 Hindutva activists since 2014. Last year, Shobha Karandlaje, BJP MP from Udipi-Chikmagalur constituency wrote a letter to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh listing the names of 23 Hindu activists alleging that they were killed by Muslim outfits. However, it turned out that one person on the list is alive, two committed suicide and two were killed by their own family members. Despite numerous factual errors in Karandlaje’s claim, BJP leaders and their social media team have already done enough damage fanning polarisation over the issue. In fact, in last December and January, when two persons – Paresh Mesta and Deepak Rao died, BJP’s IT cell head Amit Malviya was among the first to frame the two as Hindutva activists, blaming Muslim outfits for the deaths. BJP and its affiliated saffron organisations have created situations of communal tensions out of this, though none of the two deceased were active Hindutva supporters.

BJP’s Post Card

A fake news website called Post Card is based in Bangalore, which is known for producing fake news content – always in support of the BJP. Recently in March, its founder Mahesh Vikram Hegde was arrested for a false news story that he and the website posted on social media sites. The false news claimed that a Jain monk had been attacked by Muslim youth. The news was immediately picked by the BJP supporters to circulate on various platforms. The state BJP leaders came in support of Hegde and demanded his release, perhaps, owing to Hegde’s association with the party. BJP’s social media finds haven with Post Card News, despite its record of spreading fake news stories. It is not surprising that Hegde is followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Twitter.