Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot Accused of Buying Facebook ‘Likes’

Is it possible to buy ‘likes’ on Facebook? The answer is yes. Just do a Google Search and you will come across many IT websites that sell likes.

There are accusations that suggest Rajasthan Chief Minster Ashok Gehlot bought fans for his Facebook page. These allegations were made by Bhartya Janta Party (BJP). The story published on ibnlive.in states that the rival political party, are accusing the Chief Minister or the team that handles his Facebook page for buying fans or likes.

It is being said that Gehlot’s facebook page saw a significant rise in the number of likes. He gained 45562 likes in the time span from May to 30th June. Most of his followers are from Istanbul, Turkey. I noticed that most of the people liking and commenting on his posts seemed Indians.

Ashok Gehlot’s team members said that, the opposing party is accusing him of buying likes because they are ‘scared.’ They have no technical proof. Gehlot’s technical team said, “These are baseless allegations.”

This is not the first time a political person/party is being linked to buying likes or followers. Reports earlier suggested that 50% of Twitter followers of BJP’s PM candidate Narendra Modi were fake. Recently, it was also revealed that the US State Department spent $630000 to get more facebook likes.

Gehlot is not only using Facebook and Twitter to connect with his thousands of followers. He is even blogging. Ashok Gehlot's Twitter profile has 3,140 followers. He not only has a YouTube channel, but also an android app. According to the 2011 census 226463 houses in Rajasthan have internet.

But is this what it comes down to? Buying likes and followers to win votes and gain power? Like it or not but this is just how the way it is. After all, we all run behind numbers don’t we?