Assembly Elections 2016: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee most discussed politician on Facebook

The results show that Trinamool Congress chief Ms Banerjee was the top political leader (22%), followed by Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy who featured in 20%.

New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was the most talked about political leader on Facebook, as per a poll conducted during the Assembly polls.

In view of the Assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry, an analysis of conversations on Facebook across all states was carried out. The results show that while BJP was most discussed political party - figuring in 62% of the conversations – Trinamool Congress chief Ms Banerjee was the top political leader (22%), followed by Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy who featured in 20%.

The data covering top political parties, politicians, states and top issues is for the period from February 12 to May 10.

With 47 per cent mentions, Congress was second followed by AAP - 25 per cent. Interestingly, DMK and CPI-M featured in only 6 per cent of online conversations.

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi and BJP's Sarbananda Sonowal were the other talked about leaders, Facebook said, adding among the states, Assam was most popular with conversation of 28 per cent netizens figured around it.

Crime seemed to be of utmost concern to Facebook users as one-third of election-related conversations featured the issue. Defence came a close second with 31 per cent. Foreign affairs, education and transport were other major issues.

"Facebook is making it easier for people to participate in electoral debates and have a real impact. It has become a place for people to get to know their candidates better and discuss issues they care about," a Facebook spokesperson said.

"By providing a platform for engagement and discussion, Facebook is empowering people in India on Facebook to engage in the elections," the spokesperson said.

Overall, 2.2 crore netizens discussed elections on the social media platform leading to 14.2 crore interactions, the social media giant added.

(With PTI inputs)