BJP seeks votes in Mizoram, with a Telangana map

Hours before polling began in Mizoram on Wednesday, a social media gaffe left BJP red-faced. The official Twitter handle of national BJP appealed to voters to choose BJP for “the development of Mizoram”, but the post was accompanied by a map of Telangana.

The post was taken down more than a couple of hours later, but it had, by then, been shared numerous times on social media. In an age where electoral campaigns are fought as much over social media as on the ground, the error on polling day gave BJP’s opponents an opportunity to score some quick political brownie points.

Assam Congress

was quick to latch on to the error. Launching a scathing attack on the saffron party for the map mix-up, it tweeted, “This is how much BJP loves the northeast and knows about the northeast. Their official national tweeter handle posted map of Telangana while tweeting for Mizoram. Think twice #Mizoram before you vote for such party.”

Going a step forward, Mizoram Congress spokesperson

Lallian Chhunga

said the error shows that electoral success remains a distant possibility for the saffron party in his state. “Even though BJP hopes to make inroads this time, it cannot do well in our Christian-majority state. BJP believes it has an advantage in the minority-dominated constituencies of West Tuipui and Tuichawng. But Congress has done very well over the last few years and MNF has also improved their performance. So, it will be difficult for BJP to make its mark. The saffron party won’t even win a single seat this time.”

BJP, which has never won a single seat in Mizoram, has been projecting itself as a major contender for power this time. Its leaders, who often take pride in the party’s social media strategy, sought to downplay the map mix-up. BJP’s national IT cell head

Amit Malviya

told TOI, “It was an inadvertent human error and we are deeply apologetic for it.”

Malviya had been at the forefront of a BJP social media campaign that attacked Congress president Rahul Gandhi when he made a similar mistake in his Facebook post last month. Rahul had then mistaken Mizoram for Manipur while sharing news about a Sainik school that allowed girl students for the first time.

“Given the chance, there is nothing a girl cannot do. These girls at the Sainik School in Manipur are proof of this. My best wishes to these brave, inspiring children. You are the future of India. You make us all proud,” Rahul had written on Facebook.

Though the mistake was rectified in a later post, many Twitter users were deeply critical of the error. “Rahul Gandhi shares an article on Mizoram and writes Manipur. It is this ignorance about the Northeast that is so problematic!” Malviya had tweeted back then.

When asked about the mix-up, Mizoram BJP spokesperson Manas Deka said, “The national BJP Twitter account is controlled centrally. The BJP state leadership is not in a position to comment on this.” Mizoram BJP president JV Hluna added, “I have just returned from my constituency. I don’t know anything about this issue.”