Why Are Parties Wooing Influencers Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections?

PM Modi recently gave awards to influencers like Ranveer Allahbadia and Kabita Singh.

On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented the first-ever National Creators Awards at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. Over 1,50,000 nominations were received across 20 categories, with approximately 1 million votes cast in the voting phase for digital creators in various award categories. 23 winners were chosen as a result, out of which three of them were foreign creators.

At Bharat Mandapam PM Modi said “The Lok Sabha elections will take place in the next few days. Don’t think that this event is for that,” as sections of the crowd chanted “Abki baar, 400 paar”. Modi further added “And I guarantee that if possible, on the next Shivratri too, or on another date, this event will be executed by me only.”

The categories included the best disruptor of the year presented to Ranveer Allahbadia (better known by his handle Beer Biceps), the Swachhta Ambassador Award presented to Malhar Kalambe, Best Creator in Food Category to Kabita Singh of Kabita's Kitchen, Best Travel Creator to Kamiya Jani (better known as Curly Tales), Best Health and Fitness Creator Award presented to Ankit Baiyanpuria and many more.

The Rise of Influencers

The hosting of the National Creator's Awards signals recognition of the growing influence of digital content creators and the BJP government's attempts to woo them ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Devang Dave, a member of the BJP's election management team in Maharashtra, says “This initiative can be seen as part of a broader strategy to embrace digital platforms for public engagement and promotion, reflecting a modern approach to governance that values innovation and direct communication channels".

But what do social media influencers bring to the table for political parties?

Dave weighs in: “Social media influencers' ability to shape opinions, engage with a wide audience, and drive narratives makes them crucial in our campaigns. They are poised to play a pivotal role in the 2024 elections. Their".

"Influencers can bring authenticity and relatability to political messaging, reaching demographics that traditional media sometimes cannot.”

Devang Dave, part of Maharashtra BJP's election management team

Specifically in the context of elections, Dave says, "Influencers can offer a more direct and personalised connection with the electorate, often bypassing the traditional media gatekeepers. This trend doesn't diminish the importance of journalism but complements it".

On 2 October, 2023, PM Modi met Ankit Baiyanpuria, a social media fitness influencer from Haryana. Baiyanpuria joined the Prime Minister ‘shramdaan’ program of the Swachhata Hi Seva (SHS) campaign. The Prime Minister shared a video of him on X (formerly Twitter), and wrote, “Today, as the nation focuses on Swachhata, Ankit Baiyanpuriya and I did the same! Beyond just cleanliness, we blended fitness and well-being also into the mix. It is all about that Swachh and Swasth Bharat vibe!”

But it isn't just the BJP. Even the Congress has tried to tap into the power of influencers. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi gave an interview to travel Youtuber Kamiya Jani during the Bharat Jodo Yatra and he had earlier featured in a video with the Village Cooking Channel on Youtube.

For an Opposition party like the Congress, the importance of social media influencers is even greater.

According to Ashish Dua, Secretary, All India Congress Committee, “Election is a war that is to be fought on all fronts; social media is a much visible front, and especially in times when the mainstream media has taken an angular stance, this must be countered by remaining active on social media."

“The goal is to influence every medium," Dua says.

How Influential are 'Influencers' Really?

India has the world's largest YouTube subscriber base, with 462 million users using the platform. Influencers now reach and affect a sizable portion of the population due to the increased use of social media platforms and the power of digital communication channels.

In July 2023, a research conducted by Statista, a global data and business intelligence platform, says that as of 2022, the influencer marketing industry in India was valued at over 12 billion Indian rupees. The industry's market value is further estimated to amount to 28 billion Indian rupees by 2026.

However, experts warn against overstating the importance of influencers in the political context. They argue that content creators can help shape the narrative and set the tone but cannot influence elections beyond a point. People will still watch the news, want solutions to the problems they are facing and vote based on that.

Bilal Jaleel, director of 'WTF is' Podcast that has around 7 lakh subscribers on Youtube, says that content creators don't really get into "hard core topics".

“When content creators interact with politicians, the conversation is primarily light-hearted rather than addressing hard core topics. Influencers strive to brand themselves, they are politically not so aware because for them it's all about numbers and their content promotion.”

Bilal Jaleel, director of the ‘WTF is’ Podcast

"The level of seriousness with which people look at such content has gone down and there is a sense of skepticism about it," Jaleel adds.

In this context, it is important to understand the diversity within the influencers.

Broadly, a social media influencer is someone who can persuade their followers to purchase the products or services they recommend. They are classified into four categories based on their following (reach) and engagement.

Preeti Kulkarni, manager - growth and client success at Social Beat, lays down the classification:

“Nano influencers are usually those who have 20,000 followers and below, micro-influencers with 1 lakh followers and below, macro influencers are usually anyone between one lakh to five lakh followers and lastly the celebrity influencers depend on their field but usually who have 6 lakh followers and above."

Preeti Kulkarni, Manager (Growth and Client Success), Social Beat

Yash Mishra, who worked as a political consultant in the 2023 Madhya Pradesh elections, says that there are many variables that determine the extent to which content creators can make a political impact.

“Social media influencers can effectively shape opinions and mobilise support for political parties because a significant share of the population is composed of young people. Influencers' influence will, however, also be influenced by several other variables, including their reach, credibility, and the approaches political parties use to interact with them," he says.

What often gets missed while talking about the interface between influencers and politics, is the impact the larger political context has on content creators. Influencers are often aligned to particular ideologies and derive their audience from certain political ecosystems. Therefore, they too gain a great deal in terms of audience-building by engaging with political parties and leaders.