New Delhi, In the run-up to the assembly polls in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram, the rural economy emerged as the most talked about election-related topic over the past nine weeks, Twitter said on Tuesday.
Twitter said it recorded more than 66 lakh tweets in relation to the #AssemblyElections2018 .
“With more than 66 lakh tweets related to the state elections, these were amongst the most Tweeted-about Indian state elections on Twitter so far,” said Mahima Kaul, Head of Public Policy and Government, Twitter India.
“We also witnessed a rise of local language content, and are proud to empower these vibrant dialogues on the platform. Twitter is truly where India and the world comes to see ‘what’s happening!'” Kaul added.
Throughout the state elections campaign, politicians and political parties used Twitter to communicate with people all over India.
The parties’ official positions 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.
Among all the Indian National Congress’s handles, @INCMP (for Madhya Pradesh) had the maximum share of voice, and among all the five BJP handles, @BJP4Rajasthan had the maximum share of voice, Twitter said.
“Twitter is where political conversations happen and where you can see all sides of the public conversation. We are committed to serving the public conversation and take pride in providing a safe, healthy platform for everyone to enjoy the election conversation,” Kaul said.
As part of #AssemblyElections2018, Twitter launched several initiatives for Indians to provide real-time updates on the campaign trail, connect voters to politicians on the most important election issues, and to have their voices heard.
In addition to a customised emoji, Twitter also conducted capacity building workshops with political parties in election states so as to share best practices, account safety and reporting tools.
These workshops were attended by key leaders, IT cell members and social media warriors of the parties, Twitter said.
In the lead up to the state elections, Twitter partnered youth organisation @YouthKiAwaaz in hosting a series of #DemocracyAdda Youth Summits across cities.
