AAP, Kejriwal are most watched Indian political videos on YouTube

by Nikhil Subramanium The second biggest phase of the 2014 Lok Sabha General Election will take place tomorrow, with many of the key constituencies going to poll. More than ever, this year digital platforms have become a new campaign ground for political parties, aspiring MPs and their supporters. Facebook and Twitter are filled to the brim with political discussions and duels, which is fueled by the social media teams of opposing political parties in most cases. While the social networks were expected to throw up a fair amount of vitriol and wit in the run up to these elections, YouTube too has become a platform where parties, contestants, political watchers and comedians have weighed in with their point of view. [caption id=“attachment_1493609” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Arvind Kejriwal. AFP.[/caption] In a bid to showcase their presence in the zeitgeist, YouTube has released a list of the top ten political videos ahead of tomorrow’s phase of polling. The list compiled by the website takes into account views from India in the “Politics” category for the month of March. It does not include viewers from outside India. “The popularity of these videos on YouTube ascertains that people in India are not just taking keen interest in the current elections but also have a great appetite for politics related humour,” the website said. Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal tops the chart with six out of 10 videos featuring him, including the top four videos. While the content itself ranged from news reports to political satire to spoofs and Kejriwal’s speeches, AAP’s popularity on the video platform might be a natural fallout of the high-voltage campaign that the party has embarked on. It must be noted that the most watched political video is not charitable to AAP or Kejriwal and it shows the AAP leader talking off-record to Prasun Bajpai, Executive Editor at Aaj Tak, about favourable media coverage. This video kicked up a storm, with a number of Kejriwal’s detractors accusing him of fixing his interview with the channel.

Of all the television appearances by political bigwigs it was Rahul Gandhi and Lalu Prasad Yadav’s respective interviews with Arnab Goswami that got the maximum number of views. This could also be the case given that the list only factors in the views for the month of March and a number of major political leaders have been giving one-on-one TV interviews of late.

The other top ten videos include debutante politician and Telegu super star, Pawan Kalyan’s speech in Telugu and a speech made by former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu at the Parliament.