Punjab Elections 2017: Nirvaan Singh is heading his grandfather Amarinder Singh's social media campaign
Nirvaan Singh, an unassuming young man of 27, goes everywhere that Captain Amarinder Singh does on his campaign trail, between rallies engaging the 75-year-old Congressman on his smartphone as he explains social media tools, prepares him for a Facebook Live or just asks him to respond to a query.
Nirvaan Singh is Captain's grandson and runs his social media campaign. He has his task cut out as his grandfather, an old-style politician, takes on the likes of Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party, famous for its use of social media for election campaigns.
He says Captain's eagerness to learn new skills for canvassing is an advantage and he provides the bridge between the Congress' state chief and the election strategist Prashan Kishore and his team of number-crunching professionals deployed by the party for next week's assembly elections.
"Before putting anything out on social media, we discuss it with Prashant Kishore and his team and the rest he does," Nirvan said, referring to his grandfather. Unlike the last election where the social media teams needed laptops, now it's all on smartphones and Nirvaan only needs his iPhone 7.
"I think it's great," said Amarinder Singh to NDTV. "I look at what people are saying till about 1 am, so it is great fun." Captain, who is leading his party's attempt to wrest Punjab back from the Akali Dal-BJP after 10 years, says he prefers Facebook to Twitter which Nirvaan scopes out for him.
So are the recent Twitter battles that Amrinder Singh has waged with Delhi Chief Minister and AAP boss Arvind Kejriwal all Nirvaan's doing? No, says the grandson, fully crediting his grandfather. "That was all him. I was reading what his opponents said about him and he said 'sneaky little fellow' and the other stuff, and I said well, you have to put it out there, all that you think," Nirvaan said smiling.
The rest, was headlines.
In the latest edition earlier this month, Arvind Kejriwal had tweeted after touring Patiala the constituency that Captain Amrinder Singh is contesting, "Huge public support. Captain will lose his own election this time." Captain had shot back, "If you are so sure, why don't you come and fight me? You sneaky little fellow!"
Nirvan's millennial status is probably his best qualification for this job, more than his History Honours degree from St Stephen's. But its a job that lasts only till March 11, when votes will be counted in five states, including Punjab, where elections will be held in a single phase on February 4.
"After that, I'm getting married," said Nirvaan, who has worked in a media company before going full time with his granded a year ago