Twitter user Sachin Tandon on Sunday shared insights into the working of Bharatiya Janta Party’s (BJP’s) ‘media monitoring team’. According to Tandon’s sources, the BJP has a team of at least 1500 people who monitor media organisations and ‘identify stories that may be detrimental or advantageous to BJP.’
Such is the power of BJP’s social media army that the members of this team can directly call news organisations’ editors and order them to either kill or propagate a particular story.
Tandon revealed that the saffron party is paying about Rs 9 crore a month in salaries to the 1500 member team. The key recruiting factor for the team is ‘nationalism’.
So I got some leaked information about BJP’s “media monitoring team” from a senior BJP strategy/operations guy, someone more in an organizational role than a political leader himself. Some snippets follow:
— Sachin Tandon (@cugwmui) August 26, 2018
All rumours of this “media monitoring” team strength of 200 are false. The real number is closer to 600 at headquarters alone. Including states, it is 1500, and is expected to reach its target of 2500 in the next 2-3 months. Target 5 per district (some handled from HQ)
— Sachin Tandon (@cugwmui) August 26, 2018
Average monthly salary of each member of this team is Rs. 60k per month. That’s already Rs. 9 cr per month, with target of 15 crores. This is excluding any media expenditure, infrastructure (offices, IT, computers etc).
— Sachin Tandon (@cugwmui) August 26, 2018
This team is different from the “IT Cells” in each district. It is focused on identifying trends in the local and national media organisations and identifying stories that may be detrimental or advantageous to BJP. Social Media is a part of this.
— Sachin Tandon (@cugwmui) August 26, 2018
The senior-most 200/250 individuals have the authority to directly call media editors (digital and print) and either kill a story or propagate a story. The larger media houses are handled directly by political leaders.
— Sachin Tandon (@cugwmui) August 26, 2018
These teams are staffed with a disproportionate number of ex-armed forces personnel, especially at the mid-to-senior level. “Nationalism” is a key recruiting idea.
— Sachin Tandon (@cugwmui) August 26, 2018“>
The funding for this entire operation is apparently organized by a senior minister in the Modi cabinet, a suave accountant and businessman from Mumbai, and acts as a de-facto treasurer for the BJP.
— Sachin Tandon (@cugwmui) August 26, 2018
Earlier this year, news agency PTI reported that party supremo Amit Shah is a member of 1800 WhatsApp groups and is providing ‘direct information” to BJP IT Cell workers. Shah had also asked party’s ‘social media warriors’ to spread like fire from Jammu and Kashmir to Kanyakumari and ensure party’s victory in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.