Bihar political parties favour on-ground rallies despite COVID-19 |
As the assembly elections come nearer in the Indian state of Bihar, political parties prefer to host real rallies in comparison to virtual ones, despite restrictions on the number of people allowed in open public meetings amid the Covid-19 pandemic. From 14th October, most parties are kicking off their physical rallies. Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar will soon address a series of meetings in Banka and Bhagalpur districts. While permitting watered-down open election rallies, the Election Commission has notified different grounds in the state, specifying the number of people allowed in them. The Left parties, for instance, are opposed to virtual rallies, given their limited resources. Others like the BJP, JD(U), RJD and Congress have roped in professionals and invested in setting up social media war rooms and laying their virtual platforms up to booth level to address their target audience. Left parties feel that virtual rallies do not provide a level-playing field, and as such they are opposed to it. They however cannot match parties like the BJP, given its huge resources. Their outreach has always been through person-to-person contact, like door-to-door campaigning, cadre conventions and village meetings. Low internet penetration with roughly 26.9 million internet users Bihar has a lot of handicap for some parties in reaching out to the voters through virtual rallies.
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