While Sinha is seeking votes for the “work done in the area” as MP for the last 10 years, Prasad is asking votes in name of developmental works done by PM Modi
The Patna Sahib constituency, one of the most high-profile seats of Bihar this Lok Sabha polls, is witnessing a fierce battle between two stalwarts — Union minister and lawyer Ravi Shankar Prasad and actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha, with poll watchers opining that it will be too close a call.
While the battle on ground is in full swing for both, a team of IT professionals are running the Union IT Minister's online campaign, in a bid to give him an edge among the thousands of young and tech-savvy voters.
While BJP president Amit Shah held a roadshow for Prasad, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi came to do same for Sinha.
While Sinha is seeking votes for the “work done in the area” as MP for the last 10 years, Prasad is asking votes in name of developmental works done by PM Modi. If Sinha starts speeches with his iconic dialogue in Khamosh, Prasad says “Patna will no longer be Khamosh (silent).” Interestingly, Patna Sahib is one constituency where both contestants claim to be “family friends” and not a single personal attack is made on either candidate.
Though Patna Sahib was believed to be a fairly “safe” seat for the BJP, Sinha's hopes hinge on the division of around four lakh Kayastha votes in the constituency of 21 lakh, along with minority and Yadav votes here.
Prasad, who hails from Patna, is trying to connect to the electorate on virtual level too. “For the last 1-1.5 months, we mapped the electorate and designed social media campaigns with specific content for women and youth,” says Devang Dave, national convenor (IT & social media), BJYM. The content includes rap songs such as “Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar Saare Bolo Milke Jamkar”, video messages and hash-tags such as #PatnaKaRavi on Twitter.
Dave, whose team includes around a dozen youth from the likes of IITs and NITs and 200 from different colleges, Sinha's social media campaign is limited to tweets, retweets, photographs and posts on campaign.
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 "BJP’s Ravi Shankar Prasad (left) and Gatbandhan’s Shatrughan Sinha on campaign trail")
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While Sinha is seeking votes for the “work done in the area” as MP for the last 10 years, Prasad is asking votes in name of developmental works done by PM Modi. If Sinha starts speeches with his iconic dialogue in Khamosh, Prasad says “Patna will no longer be Khamosh (silent).” Interestingly, Patna Sahib is one constituency where both contestants claim to be “family friends” and not a single personal attack is made on either candidate.
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