Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made major changes in the IT and social media department of the party while announcing its new national team.
Amit Malviya, who held this responsibility for about 11 years, has now been removed from this post.
In his place, Deepak Mhaske, who comes from Chhattisgarh, has been given the responsibility of social media department.
However, BJP has not publicly given any reason for the removal of Amit Malviya. This has been presented by the party only as a change in the organization.
Deepak Mhaske, who replaced Malviya, has been recognized as an academic and expert in election data.
Mhaske belongs to Chhattisgarh. He has been a professor of chemistry and has also worked in the BJP organization. His appointment is being seen as an attempt to give more emphasis to data and election strategy in the party's digital campaign.
Did the Gen-Z protests have any impact?
Special attention is being paid to the timing of Malviya's removal. This change has happened at a time when social media played a very important role in the recent student and youth protests.
Reuters has also linked this change in BJP to the change in the party's digital strategy after the recent youth protests.
During the Student and Gen Z Protests that took place in many parts of the country including Jantar Mantar, social media mainly became a major medium for the protesters to unite. He used social media to make fun of PM Modi and his government through rap, songs and videos. Interestingly, BJP has been using these platforms for a long time to reach out to its supporters and shape its political message.
In July, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) thinker Ratan Sharda had criticized the BJP's media and IT team. He had said that the party's IT cell now reacts to the narratives made by others instead of creating the narrative itself. He had especially raised questions on the party's social media strategy regarding the student movement at Jantar Mantar.
Ratan Sharda had written on
Ratan Sharda wrote, "Modi ji had to use all his strength to handle the situation, even making a reel at midnight. This is not a good thing for BJP's communication. My heart breaks. That's why I am writing this bitter post."
This criticism of Sharda is also important because before this he had also raised questions on the manner of Amit Malviya's social media posts. He had said that instead of responding to the concerns of citizens, trolling them creates problems.
According to data released between August 1 and 7 by Databeings, an organization that releases data related to YouTube channels, Congress's channel was at number one in the list of channels of political parties and leaders with 2 crore 19 lakh views. Congress's view share was 33 percent. Whereas Indian Youth Congress's channel was at second place with 1 crore 39 lakh views and 21 percent views share. Whereas Rahul Gandhi's channel was at third place with 1 crore 14 lakh views. PM Narendra Modi's YouTube channel was at fourth place with only 62 lakh views.
According to an article in Scroll, the kind of strong digital network that BJP had built in the last one and a half decade on text-based platforms like X (earlier Twitter), Facebook and WhatsApp, the same strategy could not leave much impact in the world of Instagram and especially Reels. According to the article, Gen-Z's way of using social media and communicating politically is quite different from that of older generations.
The article says that Gen-Z's main platform is Instagram, while X and Facebook are viewed by the youth as platforms for older people.
The reach of content on Instagram is not determined solely by the number of followers. The algorithm tracks how long people watch, rewatch, and share videos with friends in private chats.
The example of PM Narendra Modi's Instagram video of July 23 is given in the article. The video got more than 30 crore views in 24 hours. BJP considered it as its digital success, whereas according to this article in Scroll, a large number of youth were sharing it as a joke and meme. This means that a lot of views does not necessarily mean a positive political impact.
After the protests at Jantar Mantar, the new social media in-charge Deepak Mhaske himself indicated how much importance BJP itself is giving to connecting with the youth and Gen-Z.
Speaking to NDTV, he said that BJP will now focus on Instagram, Reels and platform specific messaging to reach out to the youth. He also said that the party will focus on countering misinformation and clearing people's misconceptions.
This statement of Mhaske is important because the role of Instagram and other social media platforms was very important in the recent Gen-Z movement.
Welcoming this change of BJP, journalist Ruhi Tiwari of 'The Print' wrote on "Speak out. BJP needs people with new thinking, new methods and less aggressive tactics."
What did Amit Malviya say?
After being removed from the post, Amit Malviya congratulated his successor Deepak Mhaske and said that the new appointments have come at a time when the party is working towards taking its message and organization to every part of the country.
He also thanked BJP supporters on social media for their support during his 11-year tenure.
He wrote, "Congratulations to all the newly appointed office-bearers of BJP. Their appointment has come at such an important juncture when the party is preparing to touch new heights and take its message and organization to every corner of the country."
"I especially want to congratulate Deepak Mhaske ji, who will take over as the head of BJP's social media department in my place, and co-convenors Preeti Gandhi ji, Shivanand Dwivedi ji, Alok Bhatt ji and Arun Yadav ji."
Amit Malviya's tenure of 11 years
Amit Malviya has been a prominent face of BJP's digital politics for the last 11 years. He has been known for attacking opposition leaders on social media and creating narratives in favor of BJP.
Even during the recent student movement, he remained continuously active on social media. He raised questions about some videos and claims related to the protest and tried to present BJP's side on the issues of the movement.
Malviya has worked in the banking sector. His X profile describes him as 'ex-banker'. According to him, he started working with BJP-related online platform 'Friends of BJP' in 2009.
His educational background is in business management and finance. After joining BJP's digital team, Malviya quickly became the main face of the party's social media campaign. In 2015, he got the responsibility of the party's IT cell. After this, he remained associated with BJP's digital narrative and social media strategy for almost a decade.
Now the question is whether BJP will also change its social media strategy with the arrival of Deepak Mhaske? Increasing the party's reach, especially among young voters, and strengthening its presence on platforms like Instagram can be a big challenge for the new team in the times to come.
Reactions to Malviya's removal
After the removal of Amit Malviya from the post of BJP social media incharge, many opposition parties and experts including Congress are reacting.
Senior lawyer and social activist Prashant Bhushan wrote on X, "So finally Amit Malviya, who spread porn and fake news, was removed from the post of IT cell chief of BJP."
Congress leader Mumtaz Patel told news agency ANI, "The most welcome change is the removal of Amit Malviya, the leader who single-handedly spread hatred against Congress across the country through the IT cell."
Mumtaz Patel said, "He ran propaganda against Rahul Gandhi and spread false rumors and wrong news. His death was inevitable. We are seeing that the entire propaganda of his IT cell, for which crores of rupees were spent, was broken by our students."
Fact checker Mohammad Zubair wrote, "For more than a decade, Amit Malviya ran the BJP's propaganda machinery. He was accused of spreading misinformation and promoting a large army of online trolls."
Senior journalist Swati Chaturvedi wrote, "Amit Malviya has been ousted from the post of BJP's IT cell chief. What do you people say? Will this infamous cell continue to work like this under the leadership of General Modi?"
Journalist Harshvardhan Tripathi wrote, "Today people are writing about Amit Malviya as if Amit Malviya has been given some punishment. Amit Malviya has run the BJP's IT cell very well in the last decade. It is true that in the recent past, BJP has been seen lagging behind in discussions on social media, but it is true that it is appropriate for a person and his party to step down from any post after a period of time, but Amit Malviya has done very good work for the Bharatiya Janata Party, now it will be a big challenge for the new social media team to take it forward.
