- Saturday, April 27, 2024
India, which is home to more than 800 million internet users, presents a fertile ground for the political parties to engaging top influencers to promote their cause.
By: Twinkle Roy
THE role of social media in political systems is increasingly becoming critical and India is no exception. The world’s largest democracy has seen online campaigns — whether positive or negative — taking a centrestage in times of elections, be it local, state or national, and with the country set to witness another high-volume general elections starting April 19, social media influencers have emerged as significant poll warriors.
Take for example, the case of Chandni Bhagat. She has been making devotional videos on Instagram for three years and now, she has taken up the extra work of mixing politics with religion. Bhagat is just one among several thousands of social media experts who have been mobilised by political parties ahead of the seven-phase electoral battle to woo the country’s predominantly young voters who also stay online for a long period.
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Last year, Bhagat, a teenager with more than 200,000 followers on Instagram, was among those several content creators in the city of Indore in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh to meet workers from the country’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by prime minister Narendra Modi, Reuters reported.
She has engaged in promoting the BJP’s cause since then, with issues such as its regional women’s health scheme or just a selfie with a former minister from the party.
“I attempt to talk about things that will benefit my audience,” she was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Being home to over 800 million internet users and boasting the world’s largest adoption rates of Instagram and YouTube, India presents a fertile ground for the political parties to engaging top influencers to promote their cause.
The Hindu nationalist BJP, which is known for its tech-savvy actions, has been actively reaching out to several hundred social media influencers, many of whom wield significant influence on platforms such as Instagram or YouTube, since last year.
Some of these influencers command millions of followers.
The BJP offers these influencers opportunities such as ministerial interviews – bypassing the traditional scrutiny of mainstream media – as well as photo opportunities and themed posts aimed at propagating PM Modi’s message.
The concerted effort is timed to coincide with the upcoming general elections that Modi and his BJP aim to win to get into power for the third consecutive term. The influencers being tapped are from various niches, including travel, food, religion, and technology, to amplify the party’s campaign.
Twenty-two-year-old Samyak Jain, who posts travel content to some 110,000 followers on Instagram, has been to four BJP influencer meetings.
“It’s a general interaction where we are told what all to do,” he told the news outlet. “They tell us what work the party has been doing, the work they plan to do – their journey.”
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Devang Dave, part of the BJP’s election team, told Reuters, “Last year, we had influencer meets across segments where we told them about the party’s policies, the implementation, the achievements by the government in nine years and requested them to recreate and reshare their own experiences.”
He added that the move gives the idea a lot more credibility as a third-party choice.
The BJP, however, is not the sole practitioner of this strategy.
Vaibhav Walia, who oversees social media communications for India’s primary opposition Indian National Congress party, said his party actively engages influencers to capitalise on their popularity.
He said they make efforts to connect with like-minded individuals, many of whom have been posting on their behalf.
“(Even) if (the content) is not directly Congress (related), they are voicing opinions which are aligned to our political ideology and stand,” he told Reuters.
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In late last year, the Aam Aadmi Party in the northern state of Punjab made efforts to enlist influencers to endorse their initiatives.
In the southern state of Telangana, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi enlisted around 250 influencers to advocate for their cause in state elections.
However, this strategy also raises concerns, particularly given India’s escalating issue of online misinformation and the risks that fake news poses.
Researchers also express apprehension over transparency.
“We don’t know if there’s a monetary exchange or the expectation of a quid pro quo of some kind — which blurs the lines and bring in the fuzziness,” Prateek Waghre, an executive director at the Internet Freedom Foundation, told Reuters.
(With Reuters inputs)
