Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam: As the parliamentary elections came to a close, social media platforms erupted with political commentary, live updates, heated arguments and memes.
Netizens expressed outrage about Hyderabad’s BJP candidate Madhavi Latha obstructing Muslim voters. Many demanded her disqualification. One X user posted “When such things are happening, why are the elections being held to fool the people? This is a shameful mockery of democracy!”.
On X, people commenting about the goings on. The platform was overloaded with pictures of voters showing their inked fingers, and urging people to vote.
Facebook became a hub of political campaigns. Candidates used the platform to send last-minute messages and campaigns. YouTube saw a rush of election-related videos, ranging from campaign highlights to candidate analysis.
Instagram nested well with the young population with satirical posts and memes about the elections. Pages posted memes and funny posters about political campaigns, but urged its followers to go out and exercise their right to vote.
Public forum Reddit provided its users with detailed analysis of candidates from every candidate in the state. The platform guided voters through the election process, informed them about who their candidates are, and helped them vote.
In AP,the social media landscape was taken over by an analysis of celebrities' wardrobe choices at polling booths. It all began when a post on the Actual India website featured Tollywood superstar NTR sporting a blue shirt while casting his vote. Some YSRC followers interpreted the blue attire as a subtle endorsement of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy's party.
Actor Mahesh Babu, was spotted wearing blue, a user tweeted, "This is not a coincidence, this is confidence on Jagan." The hashtag #BlueWave soon started trending.
Others started them. The trend reached new heights when a picture of Jagan Mohan Reddy's wife Bharathi surfaced, showing her wearing red and white. Jana Sena social media users implied that it was support for their party.
