Yet, the advent of social media, particularly networking sites like X (known as Twitter before the Donald Trump’s acolyte Elon Musk took over it) and Facebook, gave politics not only a new look and an extra tool for propaganda, has hijacked politics away from its traditional terrain. While democracy concerns people and only people, the over dependence of parties on social media has seemingly cut the human connection (or at least threatening to do it someday) between politicians and the people, particularly voters
Politics turned into a farce last week in Tamil Nadu when the DMK and BJP flexed their muscle in, of all places, the social media. For two days, the state was riveted to X where two hashtags trended one after the other. Of course, many people exulted about BJP winning and the DMK losing the political war by counting the numbers though what was actually played out on X was just a computer game. For, real politicking or even the process of wooing voters and gaining their confidence cannot be done through such a sabre rattling in cyberspace.
Yet, the advent of social media, particularly networking sites like X (known as Twitter before the Donald Trump’s acolyte Elon Musk took over it) and Facebook, gave politics not only a new look and an extra tool for propaganda, has hijacked politics away from its traditional terrain. While democracy concerns people and only people, the over dependence of parties on social media has seemingly cut the human connection (or at least threatening to do it someday) between politicians and the people, particularly voters.
Last week’s meaningless spat that played out on X between the DMK and BJP was a clear indicator of political parties having started chasing a mirage. True, the modern generation of youth, mostly obsessed with drawing ‘likes’ in Instagram and Facebook, has already started chasing the mirage, mistaking the acceptance of their posts and photographs on social media as signs of their personally becoming popular in society or even successful in life. But can politicians, aspiring to rule the State or the country, afford to pursue things that are illusory by refusing to dismount their hobby horses if they want their dream to come true?
When we all know that trending a hashtag on X was no indicator of the particular subject or idea that was put out for promotion on social media having gained acceptance among the voters of the State, why is that being done again and again by politicians is a question that need to be raised. One reason is that having fallen into the grip of so-called poll strategists, who are just publicity or advertising professionals, the politicians are made to believe that anything could be sold through social media. It cannot be denied that a plethora of services, products and ideas are popularized and marketed through social media.
But the pertinent question is: Can political affinity be treated on par with a service or a project or even an idea? While those who swear by the social media in doing business and trade may believe that political ideas could be conveyed in the same manner in which products and services are sold and consumer preferences changed, let’s not get into that debate now to explain that politics is a different ball game altogether. But still the question remains as to how by trending a hashtag like ‘Get Out Modi’ or 'Get Out Stalin’ could those aspirations (as enunciated in the hashtag) be realized.
Without even thinking about it or realizing the futility of the pursuit, the president of the State BJP K Annamalai and the Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin forced their parties, particularly the now inevitable and ubiquitous IT wings, into a wordy slugfest on X through their ramblings on public platforms that pushed them to situations of one-upmanship with no tangible consequences.
It was started by Annamalai, who, speaking at an event, said that he would pull the bricks out of the DMK headquarters, Anna Arivalayam. What he meant by that is not clear. Did he want to physically perform the masonry work of taking the bricks out of the edifice on arterial Anna Salai in Chennai to demolish the structure (nowadays such tasks are done with the help of bulldozers, which as a BJP honcho Annamalai must be aware of) or was he just metaphorical in his speech?
Even if it was a metaphor, did he want to demolish the building or the party that owns the structure, he did not make it clear. In fact it was just vague. Yet, Udhayanidhi Stalin challenged it. He dared Annamalai to go over to Anna Salai. The retort for that, however, sounded more ludicrous. Annamalai wanted Udhayanidhi Stalin to fix the date and time as though it was for a duel, forgetting that it was he who had first threatened to pull the bricks out. Whatever it was, the other challenge that played on X had a more ludicrous origin.
Udhayanidhi Stalin was haranguing at an event when he said the next open slogan against Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be ‘Get Out Modi’ and not the soft ‘Go Back Modi’ that his party had resorted to in the past (actually before coming to power in 2021). That got the goat of Annamalai who jumped up in anger and dared Udhayanidhi Stalin to just say ‘Get Out Modi.’ The DMK leader, without any qualms, said that aloud in the next meeting, which also enthused the party’s IT wing to trend the phrase as a hashtag on X. In retaliation, Annamalai said that the hashtag ‘Get out Stalin’ will be trending the next day and the BJP did it with aplomb. Even as the farce was unfolding, the new party on the block, Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) started trending #TVK for TN. Oh! What a much ado about nothing.
