Maharashtra may be the most advanced state but awareness about the impact of social media seems to be lacking among its leaders

In the last three months, there has been a lot of action in Maharashtra politics over the controversial activities of political leaders of various parties. No party has been spared, with leaders across party lines getting caught on camera doing things that created controversies at the national level.

Some of them had to actually resign from their posts, while some received major setbacks in their political careers. Ironically, in an industrialised and highly developed state like Maharashtra, politicians seem to be totally clueless about the impact of mass media, social media and the optics created through videos on public perception.

This week, Maharashtra’s agriculture minister, Manikrao Kokate, faced some criticism from the opposition parties after a video, which allegedly showed him playing a video game while he was sitting in the state assembly, was circulated by NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar. Two days before that, NCP leader Suraj Chavan was asked to resign by the top leadership of the party, as he was caught on the camera in a physical fight with members of another political outfit.

Just over 10 days ago, two senior leaders of Shiv Sena faced similar criticism and were in the gaze of the national media over separate videos showing them in controversial acts. One got aggressive against a caterer at the MLA hostel in south Mumbai and got into a fistfight, while the other, allegedly, was seen with a large stash of currency notes.

These videos went viral on social media not just in Maharashtra but all over the country. And this prompted the national media to take up the issue to show how Maharashtra politicians were allegedly on a rampage. Similar videos of Raj Thakre Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leaders slapping some traders or shopkeepers because they refused to speak Marathi were circulated in the previous week. That created a big controversy.

It seems as if Maharashtra’s politics, of late, have been centred around controversial videos and optics created by the media. It is interesting to see how the optics seen on TV, social media and the Internet are dominating politics not just in Maharashtra but all over the country. It is almost like politics is driven by the media and optics that the viewers or voters see.

Who has been behind the shooting and circulating these controversial videos of politicians is a matter of investigation, as the real source of these videos is not known. But it is very clear that in the run-up to the big civic poll season of Maharashtra, such videos may make a big impact on certain political parties. Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde seemed very concerned about some of his leaders, including one minister, being shown in such videos on national media.

He held several meetings with his MLAs and other colleagues, warning them about how damaging such videos are for his party’s future. On the other hand, Raj Thackeray, too, said in his speech that if his people wanted to get into certain activities as the last resort, they should at least ensure that they don’t shoot those activities on video and put it on social media. So the top leaders of these parties have realised how damaging these videos can be but are still unable to control their followers.

The question being raised among insiders and observers is whether the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance has now become too big and has too many leaders and constituents for it to run comfortably. Some insiders suggest that such videos are being leaked by some of the constituents of the ruling Mahayuti alliance themselves! This is perhaps being done in a bid to cut each other down, as the civic poll seat-sharing talks are likely to happen in the near future.

There is no clarity about whether the Mahayuti alliance will fight in most cities, especially cities like Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai and Pune, as a unit or as separate parties. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis suggested some time back, while speaking to the media, that the Mahayuti is likely to fight as an alliance. However, in Mumbai and Pune, BJP leaders and activists are keen to fight as a separate party.

Generally, most of the leaders, especially from the interiors of Maharashtra, seem to be totally unaware of the fact that within the Mahayuti alliance there is now intense competition over who gets how many seats in the civic polls to contest. As a result, some of the leaders are being targeted by vested interest groups by keeping a tab on them and, at times, shooting videos of their activities. In the modern, social media-driven political environment, where things go viral at the click of a button, an elected member of parliament or a minister caught on camera misbehaving can spell doom for his political career.

The leaders targeted in such a fashion seem to be unaware of the kind of damage such an exposure can do to their images. Maharashtra may be the most advanced, industrialised and developed state and home to the Bollywood industry, which runs on technology, but the awareness about the impact of social media and optics seems to be completely lacking, especially in a section of political leaders. Perhaps it is time for political parties to sensitise their leaders about this aspect and hold some orientation or training courses for them!