How Much Do Parties' Digital Campaigns Cost?

The 2024 general election distinguished itself with many unprecedented occurrences, not least of which was the starkly ruthless and expensive digital campaigns orchestrated by political parties. This emergent paradigm in electoral strategy illuminated a big transformation in the construction, distribution, and reception of political messaging by the voting populace.

It is emblematic of an epoch where conventional canvassing is progressively eclipsed by digital prowess.

Consequently, the electoral arena underwent a profound reconfiguration, spurred by the substantial escalation in the number of actively engaged social media users across India over the preceding decade. This led to a recalibration of political engagement strategies, as parties tried to harness the vast potential of digital platforms to cultivate voter sentiment and sway electoral outcomes. 

India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party emerged as the primary spender of Google Ads, spending Rs 116 crores within the initial five months of the election year 2024. The opposition Congress stood at distant second with Rs 45.4 crore, while regional parties like Biju Janata Dal, Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party and the consulting firm I-PAC spent Rs 21.2 crores, Rs 12.8 crores, and Rs 9.23 crores respectively.

During the period from January to May 2024, the aggregate expenditure on all political advertisements surged to Rs 288 crores, marking a tenfold escalation compared to the corresponding period in the previous 2019 election cycle. YouGov Surveys indicate that in urban India, 76% attest to having been exposed to political advertisements during this general election, with 14% reporting otherwise. Of them, eight out of every 10 acknowledge the visibility of advertisements affiliated with the BJP.

An examination of the state-wise expenditure on political advertisements serves as a poignant indicator of the intensity of electoral competition within each respective state, and the intensity of the contest. 

Odisha emerged as an unexpected newcomer atop the list, surpassing Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Bengal in terms of digital ad-spend. This outcome does not come as a surprise to psephologists, as the consensus seems to be that Odisha is currently experiencing an intense contest with the BJD and BJP at loggerheads.

Also read: Political Ad Spends Soar to Rs 100 Crore in March, Nine Times Higher Than March 2023: Report

For the governing BJP, the tactical approach involved extending their influence into the southern and eastern regions while maintaining their stronghold in the northern and western territories. Accordingly, their social media strategy was tailored distinctively. The BJP’s expenditure on advertisements was strategically allocated on a state-by-state basis.

In the figure below, we conduct an analysis of the BJP’s advertising expenditure in relation to the party’s vote share (excluding major NDA partners) in the 2019 elections.

There were three key observations.

First, in regions where the BJP enjoyed a comfortable lead in 2019, predominantly the Hindi heartland states, their expenditure was relatively modest. Second, in states where the BJP did not secure a decisive victory, such as Telangana, they allocated substantial resources, even exceeding their spending in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Third, in pivotal large states where the contest is against regional alliances like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, and Odisha, they invested heavily, deploying maximum efforts. This reflects BJP’s expansionist strategy.

The opposition Congress was chasing different dynamics. This year, their highest expenditure was in Maharashtra, amounting to 54 million, followed by Haryana. Notably, these two states are where Congress is aiming to drastically overturn the political scenario. Furthermore, these states are scheduled for assembly elections immediately following the general elections, where Congress aspires to stage a significant comeback.

While the BJP’s strategy was more state-specific, the Congress concentrated on maximizing gains from smaller states such as Delhi and Punjab, allocating more resources there than in larger states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Karnataka. Notably, despite leading a costly campaign in Karnataka just a year prior, the Congress has shown a marked reluctance to expend resources to elevate its efforts in the state this time around. 

The conspicuous escalation of surrogate campaigning across Facebook and Instagram revealed more. Pages on these two sites were often clandestinely endorsed with the aim of influencing public opinion under the guise of organic support. Primarily, these social media handles disseminated defamatory content targeting political adversaries, frequently resorting to ridicule through memes and animated videos.

The BJP emerged as the leading spender in Meta advertisements, followed by the Congress. A page known as ‘Ama Chinha Sankha Chinha (my symbol is the conch shell),’ which is also a top spender in Meta ads, supports the BJD’s Naveen Patnaik, while another page, “Mahathugbandhan,” focuses its efforts on attacking the opposition alliance. Nevertheless, a substantial portion of the campaign was orchestrated through proxy pages, predominantly aligned with the BJP’s interests. This covert network of surrogate platforms effectively amplified the BJP’s messaging, perpetuating a digital landscape rife with partisan propaganda and character attacks, thus influencing public perception through indirect means.

While financial resources inevitably shape democratic expression, there is a compelling imperative to scrutinise and regulate the unethical utilisation of digital tools and social media platforms. A recent investigation by Al Jazeera has unveiled that India’s foremost social media election advertisers use Facebook pages illicitly sold and brought in contravention of the company’s own regulations. Such revelations cast a shadow over the integrity of the electoral process, exposing the rampant proliferation of black market networks within platforms like Meta and YouTube. 

Snehasis Mukhopadhyay analyses data trends and patterns of elections and political economy.