RANCHI: With the Lok Sabha polls less than a month away, the state units of BJP and Congress have launched their campaigns on social media.In 2014, BJP and its PM candidate Narendra Modi outperformed its competitors when it came down to campaigning on social media. With the stakes higher than ever, both camps have got down to business within 48 hours of the announcement of elections.The saffron party’s official Twitter handle, @BJP4Jharkhand, is sending out messages listing the work done by the government and retweeting messages posted by the party’s national handle. Managed by a team of professionals operating out of its state headquarters in Harmu, the party’s Facebook account is steadily adding to its followers and sending out messages hitting the Congress and opposition parties in mahagathbandhan. Chief minister Raghubar Das is also chipping in through his official Twitter and Facebook accounts.Jharkhand Congress, whose official Twitter handle has more than 8,000 followers, has also sprung into life and is churning out tweets featuring images of Rahul Gandhi and slogans like “Jaat par na paat par, button dabega haath par”.The parties'’ IT teams are working day and night to churn out customized videos and infographics to list their achievements and trade barbs at each other.For instance, BJP Jharkhand tweeted a video mocking Rahul Gandhi for addressing JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar with the honorific ‘ji’. Congress replied promptly by sending out a video showing an animated PM Modi to say, “Acche din aye nahi par apna time ayega, register nahi kiya to apka chance jayega.” Congress leaders are warming up to the social media war even as its state president Ajoy Kumar is tweeting and posting videos harpooning the BJP governments at the Centre and in the state. “We have worked to set up our social media teams. There are a few issues but we will cover them up soon,” Rajesh Thakur, media in-charge of state Congress, said.Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the largest opposition party in the Jharkhand assembly, has made a slow start on the social media front. While working president Hemant Soren will go live on Twitter on Wednesday, the party’s social media accounts are lying dormant.The Election Commission of India (ECI) is keeping a watch over different social media platforms ahead of the Parliamentary polls to check for model code violations. The office of chief electoral officer (CEO) of Jharkhand is also putting in place a team of IT experts who will screen the platforms for hate speeches, rumour mongering, model code violations and candidates luring voters with offers of cash or kind.Speaking to TOI, additional chief electoral officer of Jharkhand Manish Ranjan said: “A nodal officer has been appointed for the job on the state level. Likewise, we are setting up our own social media monitoring units in all 24 districts. They will monitor social media on the level of districts and Parliamentary constituencies.”Besides screening, the CEO’s dedicated social media handles will contribute to its systematic voters’ education and electoral participation (SVEEP) program, officials said. Social media users can report any objectionable posts by parties and candidates in fray through the c-vigil mobile application.

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