Sunday was a big day for BJP and Congress both offline as well as online. Hyderabad saw the Gujarat chief minister and BJP poll campaign panel, Chief Narendra Modi launching a scathing attack on the Congress led UPA Government before a packed crowd in the city’s Lal Bahadur Shastri stadium.
While BJP and Modi supporters were preparing the campaign on social by talking about the event and sharing live preview links, Congress social media think tank was also busy preparing its social media strategy.
Twitter has been the online battle ground for both the parties with the General Elections coming closer in 2014. Social media once again extended the political rivalry on Sunday and #FekuExpress has been trending on the India Twitter Trends since yesterday.
BJP and Modi supporters counter attacked the hashtag with #NamoInHyd but it’s my observation (no use of any tool) that the Congress has been pretty dominant this time on Twitter with their hashtag #FekuExpress.
Feku Express – the website
While the Congress supporters and party spokesperson were pushing tweets on how Modi has been fooling people with his incorrect facts, Feku Express, a microsite has been running in parallel. Although there is no information about the owner of the site, I guess it is not that tough to find out.
Do go to http://t.co/d4CNBfYKF2 you may win two tickets to Chennai Express! Visit hashtag #FekuExpress to get some clues.
— digvijaya singh (@digvijaya_28) August 12, 2013
The site declares in bold letters that when Modi speaks on Sunday at Hyderabad, chances are that he will repeat his fake facts. The twist here is that the site is asking people to predict which of the earlier lies he would repeat at Hyderabad. If you guess it right then you can win 2 tickets for Chennai Express (couldn’t have been a better goodie!)
The site has a big bold button of ‘Predict & Win’; on click you have two social login choices – Facebook and a Twitter. After the authentication is done you land up on a page where you are supposed to place bets. You have to choose a fake claim from the list and bet on if the CM would make it or not. The site shows the odds along with claims made so far by the CM under Feku Claims.
For now the site’s purpose has ended but I am sure this will be active again as and when Modi will address some part of the nation. Must say a cheeky and smart move. How about some numbers show to make it a more talked about site!
The Twitter Buzz about #FekuExpress
The hashtag is still trending while I am writing this piece. Some of the tweets making the noise are:
The opposition on twitter behaving like sore losers!Nw accusing twitter of fixing trends because they lost in their own akhada! #FekuExpress — Priyanka Chaturvedi (@priyankac19) August 12, 2013
Subramaniam Swamy joins BJP! The #BigJokeParty has found another court jester for its stand-up comedy shows. #FekuExpress — Sanjay Jha (@JhaSanjay) August 12, 2013
Why is #fekuexpress trending at number one? Has it something to do with some other wrong figures and lies feted out in Hyderabad today? — Ajay Maken (@ajaymaken) August 11, 2013
Now we have a FAKE DESI OBAMA too. FEKU at his best ! — digvijaya singh (@digvijaya_28) August 12, 2013
Not that #NamoInHyd didn’t trend but it has been an on and off hashtag on the India Twitter trends. The tweets that made some buzz for Namo are:
Just look at the sweep of the crowd in #NaMoInHyd rally yesterday: pic.twitter.com/lYqyOPgYRd || Similar number were outside.
— Akhilesh Mishra (@amishra77) August 12, 2013
#NaMoInHyd NTR facilitated formation of non-Cong govt. Best service to the memory of NTR is to work for Cong Mukht Bharat.
— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) August 11, 2013
@nanditathhakur this is where i was, outside the stadium , see the crowd watching live on large screen #NamoInHyd pic.twitter.com/tSkP6PAkEM
— Aghorii (@Aghorii2) August 12, 2013
@sarkar_swati #NaMoInHyd A cheque for the collected amount, Rs 10 lakhs, was handed over for Uttarakhand’s cause after Modi ji’s speech.
— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) August 11, 2013
Looks like for now the social media efforts of BJP have been edged by the Congress. This is an ongoing battle and we are going to see more of this. We saw the same war of words on Twitter recently during the Kishtwar violence between two respected politicians – leader of opposition (BJP) Sushma Swaraj and J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. But Congress is no more timid on social media and the recent buzz about #FekuExpress makes my claim stronger.