A study on digital campaigns during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by CSDS-Lokniti, published in The Hindu last week, has shown how political battles have moved from dusty rally grounds to people’s screens, with digital advertising becoming an absolute essential in shaping voter behaviour. https://thewire.in/politics/how-indias-2024-election-became-a-war-of-digital-worlds-csds-report
The numbers reveal more than a spending gap; they signify the arrival of a new political era, where a war of capital and data has nearly overtaken traditional door-to-door campaigning.
The data shows a stark strategic divide due to the vast financial disparity between political parties. It pitted the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) industrial-scale, micro-targeted saturation campaign against the Congress’s focused, narrative-driven approach. The study shows how Indian elections are becoming contests of capital and data, where the voter is no longer a citizen to persuade, but a consumer to target and a demographic to manage.
by Pavan Korada
12/08/2025