Know Your Leader: Nitin Gadkari

Nitin Gadkari secured his second term as the road transport and highways minister this year. Here's a glimpse into how he uses social media as a communication tool.

Nitin Gadkari — Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises

Social media footprint

Nitin Gadkari's Facebook and Twitter are filled with his life as a political leader who belongs to a party he endorses completely. Though there are instances of slightly informal content, most of it is a part of a larger narrative that is in sync with the ones put across by the Bharatiya Janata Party. He often shares and re-tweets posts by his colleagues. Due to a large number of posts being shared, the volume of original content created by him seems infrequent at first glance.

Also Read: Know your leader: Narendra Modi

Sharing a slice of work

His official website is a goldmine of information, detailing everything he has done as a politician. However, what makes it really interesting is how they have also included visuals that give us a glimpse of his personal and family life as well. The depiction is such that he has a strong personal support system. Divided into three parts, the website gives us a peek into his life as a leader, an innovator and one beyond politics.

People Connect

Gadkari's Instagram presence emanates the vibe of a people's leader. He shares pictures that are vibrant and engaging. While campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections, a majority of the pictures shared by him were of the reactions he got from people.

He regularly puts up festive posts, wishing his followers. Peeking through these are the mandatory photo op stage and rally political pictures. The fact that he writes in multiple languages — mostly English, Hindi, Marathi — also helps in creating that bond.

This is a part of the series — Know Your Leader. It's a series by Social Samosa where we put across a concise analysis of how our cabinet ministers use social media to communicate. You can read all the parts here.