Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections 2018: Congress Issues Diktat to Ticket Aspirants – 'Must Have 15,000 Likes on Facebook & 5,000 Followers on Twitter'

Bhopal, Sept 3: The Madhya Pradesh unit of Congress has issued a strange diktats to ticket aspirants in the poll-bound state. For those wishing to be listed among the 230 candidates whom the party will field in the upcoming assembly elections, it is prerequisite to have a substantial social media following.

As per the MP Congress document sourced by CNN News 18, the party has set forth two conditions for ticket aspirants – they must have at least 15,000 likes on their Facebook page, along with 5,000 followers on Twitter. The aspirant should also be part of several local WhatsApp groups.

The emphasis on social media in Congress' poll campaign is not a new phenomenon. During the 2017 Gujarat assembly elections, the party ran a campaign targeting the 'vikas model' of the incumbent BJP regime in the state.

Critics, however, have questioned the Congress for keeping social media following as a precondition for ticket aspirants. BJP spokesperson Hitesh Bajpai said his party is not averse to social media, but would refrain from making Facebook and Twitter following mandatory.

The assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh are expected to be scheduled late this year, in November-December. The last polls were held in December 2013, which saw the BJP being elected for third consecutive occasion.

Pollsters claimed that the BJP would be facing its most stringent challenge in the last 15 years, due to the "anti-incumbency" against the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government fueled by the unrest among the state's farmers.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 03, 2018 01:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).