GV Face: Social Media and the Meteoric Rise of India's Aam Aadmi Party

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP ) –  or Common Man's Party – led by anti-corruption crusader Arvind Kejriwal, is challenging India's mainstream parties. 

The AAP won big in the recent Delhi Assembly poll and has partnered with the Congress party to form a government in Delhi with Kejriwal as its chief minister.

Two parties dominate India’s politics: the Congress, which has ruled with its coalition partners for two terms and relies on rural voters; and the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Hindu nationalist group that last ruled the nation in 2004. Will AAP disrupt India's long-standing two-party politics in the upcoming May elections?

This Friday I discuss the role of social media in AAP's meteoric rise with GV authors Chirag Sutar and Manasi Gopalakrishnan.

Chirag (@sutarcv) is originally from India but now lives in the Netherlands where he completed his Masters in Media Studies in Erasmus University, Rotterdam. He worked as a media journalist in India for three years.

Manasi Gopalakrishnan is a freelance journalist working with Germany's international broadcaster, the DW in Bonn, Germany. She writes and edits the blog www.womentalkonline.com and also works for DW's Hindi service.

Thumbnail image: Celebrations outside AAP headquarters in New Delhi after successful polling results. Image by Louis Dowse. Copyright Demotix (8/12/2013)

 

1 comment

  • Anil Narayanan

    The common man of India has awoken thanks to Arvind Kejriwal,time to send Bjp and Congis to retirement and in some cases jail.Corruption has made the life’s of all people a living hell.

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