Know Your Leader: Rajnath Singh

After holding the post of Minister of Home Affairs in the last Cabinet, Rajnath Singh has been appointed as the Minister of Defence this year. Here's how he uses social media as a communication tool.

Rajnath Singh — Minister of Defence

Social Media Footprint

Rajnath Singh's social media presence reflects that he cares about the people he is responsible for. Earlier, it was the police and now the defence personnel. There is a strong focus on creating an image of a leader who represents the interests of the lowest rung of the forces.

His ideology and the things he supports often find prominent space in his social media narrative. Singh's official website has a clean interface with basic information about him and his work on display as well as resources for media persons to stay updated.

Also Read: Know Your Leader: Nitin Gadkari

Sharing a slice of work

Singh uses Twitter to share updates about his scheduled meetings quite regularly. A major part of his identity, as reflected on social media, is derived from his association with the Bharatiya Janata Party. However, it is interesting how this is balanced with his work as an individual minister.

He shares a lot of pictures of meeting people in a professional capacity and gives out descriptions of what the interaction entailed. The same can be seen on his Facebook page. On Instagram, pictures are vibrant and most of them show him engaging in some form of activity in a professional capacity.

He often criticises opponents. This was a prominent pattern in his communication in the run-up to the elections. These are all public statements that aren't made in bad taste but put forth strong political rhetoric that is in sync with the political narrative of his party.

People connect

There are two very interesting aspects of how Singh's profiles reflect his image as a politician. One, most of the images he shares are action images. It could just be a hand gesture but there are very few pictures where he is simply posing for the camera without an action.

Second, the pictures are majorly from his perspective. There is a larger than life aura to this aspect of the way he communicates with pictures. He addresses crowds. Interacting with the public on a one-on-one level is a minor part of his overall imagery created on social media and it peeks through mostly on Instagram.

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.