Political parties in Odisha using 'Reels', 'Shorts' to tap young voters 

To woo Odisha voters, three major political parties- the BJP, BJD and Congress- are making most of the social media. These political parties are now flooding social media platforms with short videos like - Reels & Shorts. 

While the state unit of Congress, in its videos, is narrating the ruling BJD’s failures, BJP is presenting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s long list of developments. The BJD on the other hand is telling the tale of its 24 years’ rule through these short format videos. 

Young voters are also taking fancy to such content. 

“We are coming across many political reels. Political parties are putting across what they want to communicate to the voters. Young voters are also liking these formats,” said Prakash Kumar Biswal, a young voter. 

Echoing Biswal’s statement, another young voter Abantika Das said, “Reels is an easy way to reach out to young voters.”

These days, Union Home Minister Amit Shah's video on how the BJD is hijacking the central government’s schemes is being appreciated. Similarly, BJP National Vice President and Kendrapara’s Lok Sabha candidate Baijayant Panda’s Reels titled ‘Apeksha Ra Anta Ethara Baijayant’ is also going viral. 

“Youths’ most favourite social media platform is Instagram.  We are making Reels about the BJP’s achievements during the last ten years,” said Umakanta Pattanayak, chief of Odisha BJP’s social media cell.  

“Reels and Insta are the favourites of youths. So we are putting the same content with changed ratios on Insta,” said Amiya Pandab, Odisha Congress’ social media chief.