BJP makes WhatsApp groups, Facebook pages for outreach ahead of MP bypolls

A day of protests

Wednesday was a day of protests. The sectoral unions of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, the trade union arm of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, held protests against the government’s plans to privatise public sector undertakings (PSUs), ordinance factories and public sector banks (PSBs). Its unions in MTNL, defence production, PSUs and PSBs held protests across the country. The All India Kisan Sabha, the farmers’ outfit affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist), protested the Centre’s recent Ordinances on agriculture by burning copies of these laws. A diversion to these anti-government protests was provided by the Confederation of All India Traders, which organised protests to boycott China-made products. It distributed paper cups and masks with the slogan, "Indian goods, our pride". It has made a list of 3,000 goods manufactured in China and will appeal to all to boycott these to support the Prime Minister’s call for Atmanirbhar Bharat and "vocal for local".   

Cancel or pay

The Rajya Sabha (RS) secretariat has noted how MPs make “multiple bookings” in various trains departing from the same, or even different, stations to different destinations for the same day. However, MPs do not cancel bookings when they do not travel, and the RS "has to make payments to the railways even for those bookings which are actually not utilised by the MPs”. “Members would appreciate that non-performance of journey on reserved berths and non-cancellation thereof in time lead to unnecessary expenditure and avoidable drain on RS budget. It also puts the public to inconvenience as they fail to get confirmed berths/seats,” RS Secretary General Desh Deepak Verma said Wednesday. He has requested MPs to cancel all such bookings, which are not likely to be used, well in advance. In case of non-cancellation of bookings that are not used by the MPs, the fare of such bookings shall be recovered from the MPs.

Ready for digital war

With Covid restrictions in place across the country, organising political rallies has become next to impossible, As the Madhya Pradesh bypolls to 24 seats approach, the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party is trying to make the best use of the digital medium. The party has established WhatsApp groups for all the 65,000 booths where polling would be held and has set up 230 Facebook pages to enable video conferences and livestream digital rallies. The party hopes to connect one-to-one with voters via these WhatssApp groups. Internet connectivity across the state is usually bankable. The by-elections to these 24 Assembly seats, expected to take place in September, are crucial for the stability of Shivraj Singh Chouhan government.