After 2010, the social media (henceforth SM) has come up an alternative form of spreading the message in the world. The main stream media (henceforth MSM) has been unusually anti-right since a long time, and this is one of the primary reasons a lot of Indians have now started to rather trust this new medium.
Narendra Modi was hardest hit by the MSM. Not only was the un-parliamentary phrase of "Maut Ke Saudar" or "Merchant of Death" phrase promoted by MSM, he was repeatedly pinned on 2002 Gujarat riots in every interview, repeatedly sidelining his good development work (my Gujarati friends have given genuine good reviews of Modi's work) and his image took a bad hit due to this. Modi, not being very good in facing tough questions, foolishly used to stay either silent or, used to run away from these interviews.
For example, when he ran from Karan Thapar
or went silent with Vijay Trivedi
Narendra Modi is a great orator, and he doesn't do that well in Q&A. The reasons may be many, but I would let the reader think over that.
Moving on, Narendra Modi understood that MSM would not do him any good. Now, on SM, there was some genuine appreciation coming for his good work in Gujarat, and there were many hard core Hindus who saw a saviour of Hinduism in him. Hence, he thought of en-cashing this medium. Some readers would think otherwise, that Modi first started the SM war, but I can't agree with them. Anyways, my point is not to discuss on this chicken and egg scenario. The bottom line is, soon Modi turned to SM to save his face, err, for image makeover.
The results in SM were awesome, splendid, stupendous! Soon there was a large online army for Narendra Modi, defending him, selling him, and doing his marketing over Internet. Be it Facebook, be it Twitter, there was Modi everywhere! Dozens of pro-Modi Facebook pages sprung up. There were 100s of pro-Modi tweeps as well.
The stupidity of MSM worked as a catalyst as well. Sagarika Ghose ended up calling genuine patriots as Internet Hindus, which a lot of people took as compliment, not a comment. Barkha Dutt lost herself after Radia gate as well. I was called a "Right Wing Fascist" by her and blocked, for no good reason. :-). These fools (yes, fools), pushed more and more people towards the Modi camp.
As all this was happening, there was another neutral camp on Social Media building up - The Anna/IAC supporters. Now, most of these people were true patriots. They didn't ask anything for themselves. Few of them were indeed BJP supporters, but for them it was always country first. Modi camp had no issues with this group, and both existed happily, taking on Congress and the MSM, which by now had a new name called #PaidMedia.
Come 31st December, 2011, the political class (not just Congress), backstabbed the Janlokpal movement. Lakhs of hearts broke. Hard core BJP supporters didn't think there was any fault of BJP, however a lot, and a LOT of people gave up on this political class all together. After another fast later, everyone gave up on requesting, pleading, begging from the political class. Enough was enough, and IAC gave way to AAP.
The SM story was going to be changed now.
Modi camp still didn't have much problem with AAP, as AAP was exposing Vadra, Khurshid etc. Things changed dramatically when AAP took a stand that Modi is not totally clean as well, and he has been giving undue favours to the Adani group. Later, the CAG report indicted the Modi government in irregularities as well, and now a clear line between AAP, and Team Modi was drawn.
Yes, I am not using the word 'BJP', as BJP doesn't exist on SM. Only Team Modi does.
The dominance of Modi camp continued anyways. AAP was a new born baby and most of the people didn't have much idea about what AAP was. Most of the AAP supporters and volunteers were working on the building the party. Arvind Kejriwal was damn busy with Delhi, there was a media blackout on AAP after the Reliance's legal notice to news channels.
This was to be changed as the public opinion hugely favoured Arvind Kejriwal.
During the Arvind Satyagrah, the AAP team knew that no one was going to even talk about it. The AAP supporters started pouring in on Twitter. After a very long lull, one hashtag which was supportive of AAP trended on Twitter - #ArvindSatyagrah. This was only the begining. Later one more hashtag trended - #SwarajWharton, which was dedicated to the speech of Arvind Kejriwal at Wharton. There was a TIME poll for most influential person in the world, and AAP supporters trended #Vote4AK again. This hashtag featured in a program on a news channel.
The Twitter team of AAP was growing strength to strength. It was influencing a lot of people, and the Team Modi was now getting uncomfortable with this. Few surveys took place in Delhi, which showed that AAP is going to win the Delhi elections. The hoardings of AAP were taken down, posters torn, but Team Modi also wanted to deface AAP on Twitter.
So, they tried to trend - #AAPExpose, a flimsy attempt, which failed miserably. This failure even featured in firstpost. The idea of Team Modi was to spread stupid things about AAP using this hashtag, however the AAP twitter team smartly hijacked this hashtag, and started to tweet how AAP has exposed the corrupts. The battle was lost by Modi camp.
And this was starting of massacre by Team Modi.
Unable to take the loss, they have started to massively mark AAP supporters as spam, so that Twitter suspends their profile
This happened. Twitter suspended the profiles of AAP supporters, of course they came back after few days. However, the fear in the heart of Modi was exposed again. That same mentality to run away from the interview, or staying mum, or worse - suppressing the dissenting voice was shown. Nothing Prime Ministerial in it, I would say.
Coming to think of it, let us see what is the policy of BJP on conduct on Social Media:
Modi camp doesn't adhere to it. No wonder they are different than BJP. No wonder the Vajpayee's BJP is long dead.
The conduct with AAP is not an exception, when it comes to Modi camp. Even the dissenting voice within BJP gets the same treatment. Be it Advani:
Or Shatrughan Sinha:
And if you are a Bharat Ratna, awarded by Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, speaking against Modi, then be ready to get morphed photos of your daughter spread around. I am not posting it here, out of decency, but here are a couple of tweet:
The mouthpiece of Team Modi - NitiCentral, is of course obsessed with Arvind:
Now, for 2 days, #FekuExpress trended (a Congress handiwork) on Twitter. What was interesting was how Modi Camp took it. Bad losers as they are, they started blaming @TwitterIndia for that!
Role of @Twitter in trending wars: Is @TwitterIndia head's political bias showing? http://t.co/Z5aqJFGWGh
— Kanchan Gupta (@KanchanGupta) August 13, 2013
And, last, but not the least - the calls to kill Arvind Kejriwal!
Bottom Line - If Congress has used MSM unethically, Modi Camp has used SM unethically. I have not found much difference in them. Congress has got 2011 regulations and 66A, Modi camp mass spams you and tries to take your account down, even if you are not abusing or trolling anyone.
Narendra Modi personally takes care of what goes on in SM. And to me, he has come out as a Paranoid, a coward.
This is one of the reasons why, Modi is unfit to be PM.
To read about the massacre on First Post, read this blog by another blogger.
well written. Fluid, simple and exposing article. It is a tag team match between MSM/congress vs SM/BJP and sadly for them both, AAP/SM/Awazaapki will prove to be an interfernce everyone will talk about soon forgetting the main two teams.
ReplyDeleteGreat article! I couldn't agree more. But be ready to get great abuses from you know who :). Keep writing.
ReplyDeleteI agree to disagree with your point of view on Modi.Is Kejriwal responsible for every tweet by an AAP supporter??
ReplyDeleteHaving said that,how on earth do u think the sang supporters should have reacted to the Kejriwal's letter on batla house...shaazia ilmi's simi connection??
Will Kejriwal come clear on all of them...I had great expectations from Kejriwal until that letter,that's kejriwal-the politician and not Kejriwal-the AAM AADMI Crusader.
Talking about abuses,it's too cliched to blame Modi supporters always...You know,i know exchange of choicest expletives is taking from all the three sides of political spectrum on SM.
With love,
A Sanghi :)
1. Yes, Arvind takes responsibility if AAP supporters abuse. There was one abusive troll, and it was taken down (suspended) by AAP supporters and volunteers within 2 hours. Arvind has tweeted requesting AAP supporters to maintain decorum on SM.
Delete2. There was no letter on Batla house, there was an address to Muslims. Bhushan has been fighting Batla house case since long before even IAC was formed. There is no connection between Shazia and SIMI, but please spread the rumours.
3. The point was actually not about abuses, it was about mass marking the profiles as spam and getting them suspended. The abuses stored for Advani, Shatrughan Sinha and her daughter, Amartya Sen and her daughter are more disturbing. If abuses happen internally BJP, that means the internal democracy is being murdered.
I don't have any issues with RSS or Sanghis. Many in my family are in RSS, many close friends are in RSS. Hinduism is the religion of tolerance, and people who want to defend Hinduisn (like the twitter handle @HinduIDF) should (yes should) be talking in a language which is as sweet, as lovely, as friendly as Hinduism as well.
~Love - bb ... A Nationalist Hindu
You comment is devoid of facts. The address to Muslims claims Batla House was a fake encounter and also shows Ishrat Jahan in good light. Whereas it is proven in court that Batla House was legitimate also by Investigating agencies that Ishrat Jahan was a dreaded terrorist. Did he ever demand an enquiry for the 800+ alleged fake encounters, 99.99% of which happened outside Gujarat and 90% of the victims of which were Hindus. No. Guess Why?
DeleteBhushan had also demanded for plebiscite of Kashmir. Everyone knows that if AAP comes to power, first Kashmir and then all other states will get separated from India if the ask for referendum in the similar way. Why don't you allow a referendum in each house. I would like my house to be a separate nation where I will be the President, my wife PM and will have my own army, budget, flag, anthem etc.
Hinduism will no longer exist once Kejriwal takes over even a few constituencies. He gets most of his foreign funds from Ford Foundation and Missionaries of Charity.
The address to Muslims had a lot of things, which you are ignoring, as Congress is being attacked in it. Anyways, demanding an independent inquiry doesn't mean that Modi camp would massively mark AAP supporters as spam to get their profiles suspended.
DeleteArvind has explicitly said that Kashmir is an integral part of India. That is the Policy of Aam Aadmi Party. Even Bhushan has changed his statement. Again, this doesn't give license to Modi camp to get AAP profiles suspended.
If you want to see from where AAP is getting funds, have a look at http://aamaadmiparty.org/donation-list ... Actually it is BJP and Congress which is getting dubious donations, with 85% anonymous, where as in case of AAP 100% of donations are public.
I assure you, Modi camp is being the worst brand of Hinduism. For starters, the conduct of those people is anything but Hindu. Ram, Krishn were cool and calm Statesmen. A quality Modi camp is devoid of.
~ bb
Who ever wrote this article is like an ostrich. he thinks if he puts his neck in the ground he wont be in problem. Boss, no political party is here for charity. Make no mistake. Be it AAP or any other party. So saying that AAP is divine and AK is God, is like getting again into the mode that has taken this country to this level. Blind faith. Why the heck AK is in politics? Just to clean the system? Is that all he wants? For that, there were two hundred other ways as well. Why only politics?
DeleteGhanta....
ReplyDeleteIdiotic Article. Picked up some tweets from somewhere and calls it an article. The Khujli gang deletes all users who post meaningful comments in their pages and even blocks them in FB. Shameful conduct by the Khujli gang.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the expected feedback. Your language is exactly what I wanted to showcase. :)
Delete~bb
Sure. If Khujli Gang or Idiotic is an abuse then several words you have used in your stupid article are highly abusive.
DeleteThank you for your wonderful feedback sir. :-)
DeleteYour comment is a scintillating asset!
~a compatriot
Now now, the Modi camp is getting personal here. Expected.
ReplyDelete~ bb
Videos Perfectly exposed Modi ji can't talk without giving a script. He is good at speaking a written script prepared hours before but He just become fussi bum or Silent avatar on direct question from Journalist.
ReplyDeleteExcellent hard-hitting article on already starkly exposed ModiBhakts with really heavy pounding on their immoral, arrogant, abusive and tyrannical attitude !
ReplyDeleteBeing totally unaware of your previous works its difficult to understand you at first glance........ So far as Vajpeyee n his personality is concerned it rose to heights in 90s when only Advani was next leader to match his stature in entire political scenario this would be long discussion so avoiding it here. The other thing is the core politics of the day, that is more concerned with overthrowing of Cong than Hinduism so soft Hindutva line is working greatly in favor of Modi. So far as abusing n rumour mongering is concerned that is taught in RSS training if you are above 40 you must not have forgot those BJP made BBC news of 90s. Now so far as AAP is concerned it is too new moreover limited to educated urban youths(in Delhi spearheading in other classes too, therefore it is not possible for AAP to match the ground BJP has already made from time of JanSangh. Now what remains is other political parties who are paramount of corruption n are responsible for all wrongs of Indian political n administrative life what Modi is sending out in public is the msg that he is fresh he is different n owing to huge background n long working exp people believe this also. Believe me with with first hand exp of political analysis of north India I can say he has already made his way n this is not bad situation for AAP as it requires 10-15 yrs to grow up to needs. Best thing working in Modi;s favor is people have decided to get rid of Cong n there is no leadership available that can rule the country so at present Modi seems to make it to doesn't matter what he deserves......
ReplyDeletelet me summarize you:
DeleteBJP is an Older party compared to AAP.
Modi is an experienced person. Right?
Why only Modi why not Shivraj Chauhan or Raman Singh?
Becoz neither Raman Singh and not Shivraj has shown desires for the job, neither both of them have tried to give any solution to problem. I am not against AAP and I absolutely hate Modi bhakts who abuse others but some AAP demands seems to be kiddish. Politics is actually a mirror of society and this is very well evident in our Elections barring few exceptions. We r corrupt and thats y we get bad politicians..Now we r changing and politicians will have to change...No law can bring change, it is people partnership that brings change...With Modi i see a hope that he can challenge the system without law by bringing in transparency to collections of party in future and thereby getting rid of blacks money but it may well take 10yrs
DeleteMany of my friends believe modi and they used to narrate about gujrat development also. I was very much interested in Modi and saw youtube videos about him, how he grew from bottom how he used IT in those days, everything was good, in fact i believed BJP may not be solution ,but modi is something a honest and hardworking person. This all changed when AAP took on modi, still i felt AAP is trying to get into limelight by taking on modi.
ReplyDeleteNow following Modi and AAP very closely i realized about modi and AAP.
1) Modi compromises and AAP does not compromises.
2) Modi never speaks about RTI,Lokpal,Lokayut etc.
3) Modi is silent on Vadra case.
4) Modi only speaks about how he developed gujrat- Now many AAPians from gujrat has showed what developed is it(Fekudevelopment)
5) I dnt know his link in BCCI and other cricket scams.
Most of the modi bhakts praise about hindu and hindi. In india we may be majority of hindu and hindi but please don't forget there is huge population which follows other religion too and many like me who do not follow any particular religion, however believe in god and coming to language in many part of india people wont know what is hindi.
I must say you hit it and hit it hard. Truth always hurts.
ReplyDeleteI have few colleagues in my office who talk irrationally when you talk to them about Modi. They call themselves Pakka Modi Samarthak. Its not only on Social Media and that is why I am scared of this person running for the Top Job.
Few irrational statements by my colleagues :
-If Modi comes to power he will teach lessons to "Minorities" (Theek kar dega "Minorities" ko)
-This cheap Advani should be hanged, he is obstructing Modi in becoming PM.
-India needs an autocrat right now, someone like Hitler.
-If Modi becomes PM he should put all the leaders in jail who are speaking against him. Especially Diggi and M Tewari.
-If he comes he should fight war with Pakistan and Later with China and teach both of them a good lesson coz Congress is a weak government they cannot attack.
etc..etc..
Awesomely written. Lucid, powerful, and I can agree with it because I have seen it happen. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd well, what about hijacking FP and use of thuggish language to silence dissenters there? And what's up with Mr. Kanchan Gupta? His attacks have become quite juvenile - signals the unbecoming of an elderly gentleman!
Anyway, hail anonymous citizens like you! ;-)
Thanks!
~vl
Bravo on a well written articles.
ReplyDeleteA clarification. Some one hinted that these are some isolated instances. For those, open your eyes. See that entire social media (in fact the whole internet) is filled with abuses from supporters of Mr. Modi. I wonder which kind of nation these people want, if at all they are real people, and not paid ones operating from SanskarDham IT hub.
A Similar article documenting the Media-BJP collusion, and what a sour looser is. http://trueliesbuster.blogspot.in/
P.S. Funny to see in the comments section of even this article the intolerant side of Modi supporters, which in fact proves what is written in the article.
Thanks for the positive feedback Mithesh. I have included link to your blog in my post.
Delete~bb
Hi there!
ReplyDeleteGreat job!
And thank you for including link to my blog!
Was pleasantly surprised.
i have some more info to share.
It may be helpful for a new expose on similar lines.
Will be happy to provide foot work or any other assistance
P.S- Have put up part 2 of the series as well. Kindly check.
Thanks, please share the info on some blog and provide the link. I would like to put the link of your blog here as well.
DeleteBB,
ReplyDeleteThe article I referred was not written by me, but a feisty warrior on our (India's) side. :)
I have posted a link to your this article in comments section of one of her recent blogs, similarly. It's indeed important we expose the wrong-doers for what they are.
Thank you mitesh9 for your encouragement.
DeleteAlso many thanks to BB for including link to my blog.
I have posted comment above earlier.
Foolish article.. Don't you see secular muslim vote seeker Kejriwal being funded by Ford foundation? Why is his colleagues bent on separating Kashmir from India? Batla House?
ReplyDeleteI have seen more pictures of Modi with Muslims, than Arvind's. These people - http://aamaadmiparty.org/donation-list are funding AAP. The official policy of AAP is that Kashmir is an integral part of India. Bhushan was fighting the Batla case years before even Janlokpal movement.
DeleteNone of your points hold merit.
~ bb
I would like to clarify few things to u dear friend. Let me put a disclaimer that I am Modi fan but I am not against AAP as well. I will take ur ques. point by point
ReplyDelete1. How much admin. experience does AAP have to draw conclusion that AAP does not compromise?
In a span of 3 months they compromised with National Security by calling Batla Encounter Fake that also just for sake of Muslim votes..What makes them different then?
2. Modi never speaks about RTI, Janlokpal...If u can see the political space all around, congress has abused every institution in books to malign their opposition be it Anna or Modi..they can do anything to bring down their enemy..
RTI is for disclosure of income of political party...Good AAP has started doing it..To see why BJP does not support it you will have to vote Congress to power in Delhi again and see how AAP dononrs are targetted if u give donations..it is very common for Congoons to threaten opposition donows and that's y donors insist not to disclose their info.
Janlokpal: Uttarakhand under BJP was the first state to implement Lokpal proposed by Anna and Team..Now why Modi is opposing it..Congress has not left any institution in India to target Modi..They have tried all courts and all machinery just to nail him falsely and not able to do so...Now they put up their party stooge as Lokayukta and want him to again target Modi..Once the Govt is accused in False case it will take yrs to get judgement..Thats y modi govt. is against Congi man for this job
3. BJP has raised this issue in Parliament as well..U said Modi did'nt speak on Vadra.. I remember seeing couple of his speeches where he has mentioned about Vadra...
4. Regarding Admin of Gujarat..Though Gujarat is No Singapore but many of the cities of Gujarat are well established..Surat, Ahmedabad and GandhiNagar.. also his track record on providing employment is phenomenal and no other govt have even been able to come close to his employment figures..What does a Poor man or LIG person what employment Right? In that sense he has done phenomenol work..Regarding Infrastructure the cities are being planned well rather that disfigured city like Mumbai
Your comment is out of context of this blog. In any case, I would like to reply to your concerns
Delete1.
1.1. AAP has no experience? How much experience Modi had when he was made CM?
1.2. The PIL on Batla case was done way before IAC was formed, by Bhushan and few others. It demanded for a decent independent investigation. In the letter to Muslims, AK specifically called upon Muslims to stop being a vote bank for Congress and start working for country to remove corruption.
2. You are slightly incorrect here. Donations higher than 20K are declared by all parties. What parties are doing is declaring that 85-90% of money they get is of less than 20K. AND, they are getting money in the tune of 1000s of crores. Seriously, are you saying that a normal salaried person can donate that much? Okay, I was being slightly cercumstantial, but why are they not starting online donation campaign?
2.1. All political party supporters and workers are hounded. However, if there are lakhs of donors online, I do not think each and every one would be hounded. Of course it is going to be white money. Also, AAP has a strict policy of not accepting money from corporates. Anyways, I am drifting from topic now ...
3. BJP on Vadra ... well my friend, the problem is, they will stop the Parliament for JPC Vs PAC farce battle, but not on Vadra. They had the files for 18+ months but did nothing. The braves might be Ram Jethmalani, but rest of the BJP leaders are 'accomodating' so that the 'political environment' stays healthy. Do read between the lines.
4. I am not saying Gujarat has not developed, and it is mentioned in the blog as well. My problem is Gujarat is gonig the Infosys way - Dependent on a Hero. Infosys plunged after Mr. Murthy retired, as the system that he left was not self sustaining. India plunged after Vajpayee left as the system was not self-sustaining. Gujarat would plunge when Modi leaves as the system has not been altered to remain self-sustaining. We do NOT need HERO! We need a system which encourages HEROES. And this system would only come when there is ample decentralization, when there the common man is amply empowered.
You mentioned Mumbai. I saw 52+ flyovers being constructed during BJP rule, what after that? Let us move away from this Hero Worshipping and move towards a government and system which would make sure that corrupts are not able to survive, which make sure that the clean people are not driven to despair and suicide, which ensure that good people like you and me are heard, which ensures that even without Modi or Kejriwal, India continues to grow leaps and bounds!
I am sure my reply would not have been good enough to satisfy you, but please understand that by creating such a rough, paranoid image, there is no way Modi would be able to earn respect of people like me. The only reason I have given you a sincere reply is because I felt your comment was genuine and though you do not agree with me 100%, you are also someone who is working hard to make India a better place.
Jai Hind!
Vande Mataram!!
~ bb
Thanks for responding mate and heres my response to ur points:
Delete1. I am not against AAP experience but against ur point that AAP dont compromise..Well u have said all about that but did'nt say that y Kejriwal made irresponsible statement when matter was sub judice..
Also, ur leader was killed in Lalitpur(U.P) by ruling party leader, what did u do to get justice
Y did u leave Khurshid baisakhi chor fiasco in between
Y did u stop pursuing Vadra case after two PC's...
2. U say about BJP's farce battle in Parliament if that would not have been done none of 2G accused and Coal issues would have been caught.. They had Vadra files for 18 months and they did'nt attack him is not correct on their part but y AAP stopped their attacks on Khurshid and Vadras of the world..
And who said u cannt donate to BJP through their website...I am not BJP member but still donated them through their website
3..Now u put up a point regarding Infy so i am happy to discuss it...Disclaimer I have worked for 5.5yrs with Infy...What do u think Infy is? It was a best company in its segment, their problem was not Murthy leaving but the problem was less focus on technology, less risk taking ability for three years when from 2005 to 2009...In 2004 Murhty was at helm of affairs, so the problem started from 2004 and cascaded till 2008 end...In 2009 infy took strict measures by strengthening their technical capability and salary and promotion moderation...salary and promotion moderation backfired on them and 50k people left Infy in 2 yrs....but now after 2yrs they are back in business and other companies have started feeling the heat of salaries and promotion....Infy was ahead of curve always and did take measures for this 3 yrs back under MDPai...Murthy has nothing to do with its bouncing back...He came back because current CEO did'nt had that experience and Nandan is busy with Aadhar...He is actually there to select the future CEO and stop factionalism..that's it..nothing more and nothing less..otherwise Infy is doing good on its own..Murthy already has a good team at its disposal and same is with Modi..he has made BJP cadre unified with small differences left which will be sorted out before 2014
The point U made "Let us move away from this Hero Worshipping and move towards a government and system which would make sure that corrupts are not able to survive, which make sure that the clean people are not driven to despair and suicide, which ensure that good people like you and me are heard, which ensures that even without Modi or Kejriwal, India continues to grow leaps and bounds!"
I subscribe to this point and would like to discuss it..Politics is a reflection of our society, u consider it or not but people have become corrupt..Our mindset needs to change and do u think that a law can change a mindset...No it cannot...No law can change anything in India and this has been proven Time and again..It's the mindset that needs to change..U said something about White Money...Politics will get clean if we start getting white money i.e if people start giving white money...Modi started it first in Hyderabad, it was just an experiment where he challenged the system...
AAP is fighting against power rates and saying people not to pay bills..is'nt it wrong way?
The good way is to tell people who do'nt pay to pay the charges so that charges can come down..
Did AAP did this, nops but Modi did it which no other politician can do in India..he asked farmers to pay the bill at full power rates, he cut connections if they did'nt pay the bill...that is changing the system....Modi does'nt need respect from anyone..He has been maligned from 13 long yrs but still stand tall and that says a lot about his character...He is true iron man and I respect him for that...
Our thoughts may not be the same but please do not generalise your blog to all Modi fans...It hurts mate