In a nondescript building in New Delhi’s furniture market, a team of young professionals from diverse backgrounds – engineering graduates, economists, and political scientists – worked tirelessly to mobilize 12.5 million female voters across India. This was no ordinary startup office, but an election war room, the nerve center of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) campaign to win a third consecutive term.
Led by Rimjhim Gour, founder of Sapiens Research, the team spent their days analyzing historical polling trends, using data to identify critical constituencies, and shaping electoral strategies to bring BJP to power. Their efforts paid off, as Narendra Modi was sworn in as Prime Minister on June 9, after the BJP formed the government with 293 seats.
The 2024 Indian general elections saw a record-breaking 642 million Indians cast their votes, with 312 million of them being women. The BJP’s strategy to micro-target and mobilize female voters was a grand experiment, one that relied heavily on data-driven insights and social media. Gour, who previously worked as a media strategist at the Indian Political Action Committee, recognized the potential of tapping into the female electorate, which makes up 50% of the voting population but remains largely untapped.
Over the past decade, the Indian electioneering landscape has undergone a significant transformation, driven by the advent of social media, data analytics, and political consultants. The BJP’s use of technology and social platforms has evolved to keep pace with these changes, from using call centers to screen party supporters to leveraging WhatsApp for real-time updates and a specialized app for reporting meetings. The party’s emphasis on technology has paid off, with the BJP emerging as the highest spender on political ads on Meta platforms this election.
The 2024 campaign was marked by an unprecedented use of YouTube influencers by the BJP, featuring softball questions with political candidates and paid promotions. While rival parties struggled to keep up, the BJP maintained its lead in the digital space, with dedicated cyber troops creating content year-round, not just during elections. As Amogh Dhar Sharma, author of the forthcoming book The Backstage of Democracy: India’s Election Campaigns and the People Who Manage Them, notes, this reveals the “hidden power of a new technocratic elite that has become critical for parties and politicians to fight elections and win votes in India.”
