With less than one week left for the high octane poll battle in Gujarat to end, the ruling BJP and new player AAP have intensified their online campaigning to reach out to the voters active on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

At the same time, the Congress' main social media handles have focused more on promoting Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' than the party's campaigning for the two-phase assembly elections on December 1 and 5. Counting of votes will be taken up on December 8.

An analysis of Facebook accounts and Twitter handles last week (Nov 21-27) of the three parties showed that Congress' handles were more attentive to Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', as 75 per cent of the total posts were on the yatra.

Less than 20 per cent of the posts on its Facebook page and the Twitter handle were on the party's campaigning in Gujarat elections.

On the other hand, about 40 per cent of the posts from the Bhartiya Janata Party's main Facebook page and Twitter handle were related to Gujarat polls during the same duration.

The flow of assembly election-related posts was almost the same during the last week, except on Friday when the count of the social posts on the Gujarat polls was thelowest for the BJP and the other two parties.

However, the Aam Aadmi Party's social media posts from its main handles were ahead of both the BJP and Congress, as every second post from its mainhandles was related to the Gujarat elections.

On Sunday, more than 95 per cent of content shared from the AAP's main Facebook and Twitter accounts was on the party's activities in Gujarat.

CONGRESS

Only 15 per cent of the tweets posted by Congress' official Twitter handle during Nov 21-27 were on the Gujarat polls. Out of 280 tweets posted during these seven days, only 42 were related to the party's campaigns and party leaders' rallies in Gujarat.

Congress's main Twitter handle posted 14 out of 35 tweets on the Gujarat elections on Monday (Nov 21). Similarly, the count was 5 out of 23 tweets on Tuesday, 3 out of 42 tweets on Wednesday, 4 out of 47 tweets on Thursday, 1 out of 41 tweets on Friday, three on Saturday, and 12 out of 45 tweets on Sunday (Nov 27).

Similarly, 22 per cent of the Facebook posts shared by the party's officialFacebook page were related to the state elections in Gujarat. Of 242 Facebook posts during the same period, 53 were on Gujarat elections.

On the other hand, 75 per cent of posts from the main handles (198 tweets and 194 Facebook posts) were on the events related to Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra from Monday (Nov 21) to Sunday (Nov 27) last week. The tweet count was the highest (14) on Monday and the lowest on Friday.

Congress party's Twitter handle has 9 million followers, and its Facebook page has 6.3 million followers.

BJP

The BJP maintained the flow of tweets and Facebook posts from its main handles on the party's public rallies in Gujarat. More than 40 per cent of its tweets and above 35 per cent of its Facebook posts shared between November 21 and November 27 were related to the party's campaigning in Gujarat.

BJP's main Twitter handle posted 23 out of 32 tweets on the Gujarat elections on Monday, 38 out of 63 tweets on Tuesday, 20 out of 35 tweets on Wednesday, 13 out of 46 tweets on Thursday, 4 out of 43 tweets on Friday, 15 out of 40 tweets on Saturday, and 14 out of 51 tweets on Sunday.

Similarly, 37 per cent of the Facebook posts shared by the party's officialFacebook page were on Gujarat polls. Out of 169 Facebook posts during the same period, 63 were on the Gujarat elections.

BJP's Twitter handle has 19.5 million followers, and its Facebook page has 16 million followers.

AAP

The AAP, which has made an aggressive entry in Gujarat, promoted the party'scampaigning and its chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's rallies from its main Twitter handle and Facebook page. AAP's main social media handles shared 50 per cent of its tweets and 52 per cent of its Facebook posts on the Gujarat elections in thesame duration.

The party's main Twitter handle posted 131 out of 260 tweets and 81 out of 156 Facebook posts on its leaders' public rallies in Gujarat.

The main Twitter handle posted 25 out of 33 tweets on Monday on Gujarat polls, 31 out of 40 tweets on Tuesday, 11 out of 30 tweets on Wednesday, 13 out of 38 tweets on Thursday, 6 out of 50 tweets on Friday, 13 out of 36 tweets on Saturday, and 32 out of 33 tweets on Sunday.

Similarly, 81 out of 156 Facebook posts, with 93 per cent of its posts on Sunday, were related to the state elections in Gujarat. On the same day, its Twitter handle posted 32 out of 33 tweets on Gujarat only.

The AAP's Twitter handle has 6.4 million followers, and its Facebook page has 5.5 million followers.

PTI