2018 Assembly polls generates over 68+ lakh tweets, Narendra Modi top-mentioned leader on Twitter

The recent assembly election 2018 held across Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Mizoram has seen the most number of conversations happening on Twitter. The Microblogging site's statistics recorded between October 1 and December 12 has shown more than 68+ lakh tweets related to the state elections that includes the election campaigns, key promises, voting phases, and final counting with verbal abusing and rushed statements. 

"With breaking news, party announcements, election promises, and key social issues, political parties, candidates and citizens engaging on all the hot election topics, Twitter gave Indian citizens a foreground to the #AssemblyElections2018 across the states of Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana," Twitter said in a statement.

It added the issues such as rural economy, religion and caste, as well as EVM and vote tampering as among the top conversation topics during the state polls. Dynastic politics and corruption were among other topics that generated election-based discussions.

"The parties' official position and announcements around policies and key social issues accounted for some of the top-tweeted moments in the past two months as voters went to the polls," it said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi emerged as the top mentioned leaders on Twitter during the assembly elections, Twitter added.

Vasundhara Raje emerged as the top-mentioned candidate in Rajasthan, while KTR was the most referred candidate in Telangana, Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh) and Dr Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh.

Twitter pointed out that among all the INC (Indian National Congress) party handles, #INCMP had the maximum share of voice, while among all the five #BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) handles, #BJP4Rajasthan had the maximum share of voice.

Regarding the adhesion generated over the last two months regarding the 2018 State elections, Mahima Kaul, Head of Public Policy & Government, Twitter India, said, “Twitter is where political conversations happen and where you can see all sides of the public conversation. With more than 68+ lakh Tweets related to the state elections, these were amongst the most Tweeted-about Indian state elections so far. We also witnessed a rise of local language content, and are proud to empower these vibrant dialogues on the platform.”

She added that a rise in local language content was also seen during the said period. "We are committed to serving the public conversation and take pride in providing a safe, healthy platform for everyone to enjoy the election conversation," she said. 

With over four million tweets related to the assembly elections, it’s clear that regional parties and leaders are using the platform to connect with the voters, opinion makers, youth and media, making it the most talked-about Indian state elections on Twitter so far, she added. 

#IndiaElections2018, the special Assembly election hashtag was generated to track Twitter activity around these polls. In a run-up to these polls, Twitter had conducted interactive sessions and workshops with youth leader, party workers, and IT cell heads, to familiarize voters with live tracking, combined with the hashtag #AssemblyResults2018.