#KarnatakaElections2018 on Twitter: From breaking news to behind-the-scenes action, polls saw over 3 million mentions

While the BJP and the Congress-JD(S) combine are battling it out in Karnataka, the state Assembly polls have created a lot of buzz on Twitter, with over three million mentions being generated in three weeks.

Representational image. Reuters.

The state threw up a hung Assembly on Tuesday, spurring the Congress to declare its support to the JD(S). Meanwhile, the BJP, which won 104 out of 222 contested seats in the Assembly, was still short of the halfway mark.

The intriguing political atmosphere in the state seems to have generated curiosity and interest throughout the country.

Related Articles

Rahul hobnobbing with anti-India forces may be an act of ignorance, but does this suit a leader vying for PM’s post?

All five poll promises to be rolled out this fiscal, says Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah

Between 25 April and 15 May, Twitter saw "more than 3 million mentions in relation to the #KarnatakaElections2018".

"From breaking news to behind the scenes action, political parties, candidates and citizens sparring over hot election topics, Twitter emerged as the best place to catch all the action on during the recently concluded #KarnatakaElections2018," Twitter said in a statement.

The statement noted that while the election was being held in Karnataka, netizens from across the country and even overseas participated in discussions on Twitter.

"Throughout the state elections campaign, politicians and parties took to Twitter to regularly communicate with people all over India," Twitter added.

The microblogging platform added that BJP (@BJP4Karnataka) garnered 51 percent of the share of voice on Twitter, while Congress (@INCKarnataka) took 42 percent and Janata Dal (Secular) had 7 percent of mentions.

A tweet by Rahul Gandhi addressing Prime Minister Narendra Modi saw the highest number of re-tweets (10,151 times), while it also received 22,930 likes, the statement said.

A tweet by Siddaramaiah had the second highest number of re-tweets.

Modi (@narendramodi) emerged as the most mentioned personality during the course of the Karnataka elections on Twitter, while Siddaramaiah (@Siddaramaiah) emerged as the most mentioned candidate on the platform.

Most trending hashtags included #KarnatakaElections2018, #KarnatakaVerdict, #KarnatakaElections, #SarkaraBadalisiBJPGellisi and #KarnatakaElectionResults.

"Twitter is where political conversations happen and where you can see all sides of a conversation when it comes to elections. Candidates and political parties have been responding to each other directly on Twitter, while voters have had a front-row view to digital campaigning in this state election," Twitter India head of public policy and government, Mahima Kaul, said.

Over the past few weeks, data shows that more than three million tweets related to the Karnataka Elections, making it one of the most talked-about state elections on Twitter, she added.

With inputs from PTI