New Delhi, 8 October 2013

BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is the most searched Indian politician on the internet, according to a survey released by internet giant Google.

Modi is followed by Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and Aam Admi Party founder Arvind Kejriwal. The survey has also revealed that the BJP is the most searched political party on the Internet. It is followed by Congress, AAP, BSP and the Shiv Sena.

The social media is likely to influence 160 Lok Sabha seats in the next general elections. The survey says 37 per cent of urban voters are online and 45 per cent of them want more information online to decide on who to vote for. Forty-two per cent of urban voters are undecided, it reveals. Contrary to the perception that people in urban India avoid voting, the survey says 85 per cent online urban voters have voted previously. Two-third of registered voters don’t share their views on the internet.

Replying to a query posted on Twitter, Naman Pugalia, policy analyst at Google, said, “It (social media) will play a small but important role. Discourse on social media tends to influence mainstream media.”