Kathmandu, November 11

Record  shows that around 22 per cent of the country’s population were using social media in 2016. With incessant growth of the number of users, the index must have gone higher this year.

With the surge in the use  of social media, it has become easier for people to convey idea to a  larger population. Social media is also widely used by political leaders to spread their message.

With the country holding its first every  parliamentary and provincial election on November 26 and December 7 this  year, it will be interesting to know which leaders have more following  in some prominent social media. Here are the top political leaders who are using social media to attract voters.

According to GlobalStat, an internet based stat counter, out of the total social  media uses, 91.16 per cent people use Facebook, 2.4 percent use Twitter  and 2.28 percent use Instagram.

Baburam Bhattarai

Former prime minister and co-coordinator of Naya Shakti Party-Nepal Baburam Bhattarai has maximum number of followers.

Facebook 1,279,000

Twitter 892,000

Rabindra Mishra

Former  journalist and known philanthropist Rabindra Mishra, who left his  career in journalism to join politics in 2017, formed a new political  party called ‘Sajha Party’. Mishra, has the second largest number of  followers. He is now coordinator of Bibeksheel Sajha Party.

Facebook 691,000

Twitter 685,000

Instagram 16,000

Gagan Thapa

Spokesperson  of Nepali Congress, Gagan Thapa is supported largely by the younger  generation. Seen as a fresh and young face in contrast to the usual  elderly politicians, Gagan Thapa was a former minister of health and  occupies the number 3 position among leaders who use social media.

Facebook 186,000

Twitter 704,000

Instagram 781

Pushpa Kamal Dahal