How Narendra Modi led Twitter poll race
Wednesday, 14 May 2014
So who led the Twitter battle in the just-ended marathon Indian elections?
There are an estimated 33 million Twitter accounts in the country. Analysts say these numbers are small when compared with India's 814 million eligible voters, but since every vote counts in these closely-fought elections, all three parties have tried hard to reach out to those on the internet, according to a news agency.
Posts from the personal accounts of the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and the AAP's energetic leader Arvind Kejriwal have attracted a lot of attention on Twitter, while the Congress has used its official handle to voice party vice-president Rahul Gandhi's views.
An analysis of the official Twitter accounts of Mr Modi, Mr Kejriwal and the Congress party between 23 March and 23 April shows the BJP leader led the race for re-tweets and mentions.
Mr Modi was ahead of Mr Kejriwal and the Congress party, with users re-tweeting his posts 283,323 times and mentioning his Twitter handle as many as 818,781 times in their tweets.
The BJP leader addressed the first of his 185 planned Bharat Vijay (India Wins) rallies in Delhi and severely criticised Mr Kejriwal on his home turf.