The BJP has launched what it calls its "chargesheet" on the "dark decade of UPA's malgovernance" with a website that attempts massive outreach through social media as the party preps for general elections now only months away.
Senior party leaders today showcased the new site at
http://bjp.org/upachargesheet, where, apart from reading the main opposition party's detailed charges against the Congress-ruled central government, people can use tools like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Flickr and even SMSes to give feedback and complain about the UPA.
The BJP promises to protect their identity, if they want anonymity.
Senior leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said it was a new attempt to "crowd source" with a "people-centric chargesheet" and it would also have offline elements where party leaders would meet people from different groups, like IT professionals in Bangalore or farmers in Maharashtra, to learn about their problems, in the next two months.
A BJP committee would visit Mumbai, Lucknow, Bangalore and Guwahati in September, Mr Prasad said.
"We want to reach out to the maximum number of people and so have to use technology. But this crowd sourcing is not limited to those who are using technology... this is not only for people who are tech-savvy," explained the BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman as she walked reporters through the new website.
The BJP is gathering the views of people on issues like "corruption, inflation, failure of the govt, spread of terrorism and Maoism, unemployment and farmer suicides et al," the leaders said.
The party's chief election strategist Narendra Modi, also expected to be named its candidate for Prime Minister soon, is seen as one of the most social-media-savvy politicians in the country.
The Congress has been doing its own homework on using social media, increasingly seen as a crucial tool to connect with India's vast young and middle class voter base. It will hold a social media conclave, the second in two months, next week. Congress number 2 Rahul Gandhi will address that gathering.