Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday asked the social media and IT wing of the BJP in UP to play a more proactive role in reporting the impact of the government schemes on ground, even as he termed the social media as a “belagaam ghoda (unbridled horse)” that needed to be used in an organised way. Adityanath was addressing the social media and IT wing of the state BJP in Lucknow. The team underwent a one-day workshop and training program under BJP’s national IT cell convener Amit Malviya who had come down to Lucknow, to prep the wing, directing it to amp up its activities ahead of the 2022 assembly elections. Among other things, Malviya asked the wing to get down to forming WhatsApp groups of about 100 “aware” people each at every booth to connect them better with information shared by the party headquarters, regarding welfare schemes and development works of the government. “The information should be unrolled on the ground-most level within one hour of any announcement,” said a party worker as being told in the workshop. The exercise is directed to be completed by the end of August, said party workers.
Additionally, Adityanath, in his elaborate address to the team said he noticed the team was not “prompt enough” to tweet/retweet or post content that would bring out what the government was doing for the people, or set facts right when even small parties with no state or central organisation start becoming “opinion makers” solely based on their social media activeness. He also laid special emphasis on efforts to bring out the faces of the beneficiaries of central and state government schemes. He said “small interviews” of such beneficiaries posted on social media, will create a huge impact. “Meet the beneficiaries and ask them to say how their lives have been changed,” Yogi said. He referred to programs held by the prime minister from time to time, in which he virtually interacts with a clutch of beneficiaries of central schemes. “If the PM can interact with the beneficiaries, why can’t we?” said Yogi
