Online battle for political dominance: Arvind Kejriwal trending more than Narendra Modi; Rahul Gandhi absent

NEW DELHI: The battle for political dominance online and on social media was a one-horse race for most of last year, with Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi reducing any competition to a joke, with his absolute dominance of the digital discourse. With its stunning electoral debut in Delhi assembly elections, Aam Aadmi Party and Arvind Kejriwal has not only upset political calculations, but has also entered a thoroughbred into the race for the virtual buzz.

An analysis of two sets of data— search volumes from Google Trends and proprietary data from social media analytics firm Simplify 360—show that Kejriwal has dominated the digital discourse since the first week of December, when results of assembly elections in Delhi and four other states were declared. The data confirms what people have been observing anecdotally on social media for weeks—the conversation surrounding AAP’s emergence as an alternative electoral front has pushed the buzz about Modi to the background, despite the well crafted strategy and considerable resources his supporters pump into the effort.

“The social media throne has clearly shifted. There was an air of inevitability about Modi, a sense that he was on his way and nothing could stop him now. And his supporters fed on that sense. That has been deflated. Suddenly there is another way of seeing this,” said Santosh Desai, brand specialist and commentator.