the-indispensable-role-of-political-influencers-in-2024-ls-polls

On April 13, when PM Narendra Modi released a video of his interaction with online video gaming influencers, many instinctively ( and understandably) questioned “What’s a Prime Minister doing with gamers?” Some went loud and vocal enough on social media, pointing out that it was peak election time and issues far bigger needed to be addressed and the audience far wider needs to be reached. 

But for anyone clued into social media, including the world of influencers and how it works, it made absolute business and political sense. 

 

The video, recorded at his residence in March, showed his interactions with Tirth Mehta, Animesh Agarwal, Anshu Bisht, Naman Mathur, Mithilesh Patankar, Ganesh Gangadhar and Payal Dhare.  Collectively speaking, that’s a reach of around 15 million on just one platform; Instagram. Let alone the exponential virality that the world of social media provides. Then there’s no denying the gains that any outreach to gamers or social media influencers brings. 

 

A record number of 1.85 crore 18-19 year olds are registering to vote in the Lok Sabha Polls 2024. Gaming, apart from fashion, beauty and films, is arguably the most popular category on Youtube in India. 

 

An election or two ago, a section that was non-existent or negligible is a bonafide election tool now. A platform where the young come together, who will vote nevertheless, but never make it to conventional rallies. In keeping with its momentum of exploring the influencers, the Delhi BJP is set to hold a mega influencers’ meeting to appeal to the young voters through social media outreach initiatives. Last week, while informing that the party will hold a meeting of nearly 1000 influencers as part of its digital campaign, BJP’s Delhi Unit Chief, Virendra Sachdeva, said, “Social media is a potent tool to disseminate messages and there are a large number of users on platforms such as X, Facebook, and Whatsapp whom we want to reach out to.” 

 

Ahead of the general elections, several youngsters have taken to social media to either support the current regime, or spread their opinions on its failures and performance. Eitherway, the influencers figure prominently in the political landscape of the nation. Fact-checking, breaking news, breaking down the news and implications of all the political developments have made the role of political influencers all the more imperative.

 

Since the past six months, several of them have been mobilized by political parties. A natural move considering that India has more than 800 million internet users and the world’s largest chunk of Instagram handles and other social media accounts. 

 

 Among those with the widest reach, there’s the controversial travel vlogger turned political influencer Dhruv Rathee, with a collective subscriber base of over 11.55 million followers on Instagram, X and Youtube. His critical analysis and review of the current government in videos such as EVM hacking, Andhbhakts & their logic, and 3 years of Modi Exposed have raked up millions of views within hours. Thereby giving rise to another class of political influencers mobilized by the parties to counter the critical reviews. 

 

Ranveer Allahabadia, popularly known as the BeerBiceps guy, has had many politicians and cabinet ministers feature on his podcast from S Jaishankar to Piyush Goyal. Likewise Congress leader Rahul Gandhi featured on Kamia Jani’s video podcast, better known by her moniker Curly Tales, for a candid meet over a meal. It’s not just the follower-base running into millions (in her case, over 3.12 million subscribers) that makes them an unavoidable part of election campaigning. It’s the reach up to the youth that will never tune into traditional campaigning tools of political parties or ever make it to election rallies. 

 

The shift in how the youth consume content has also been flagged by many analysts online. “Imagine first-time voters being influenced by whom to vote for on the basis of a casual chat over lifestyle they saw on the slickly produced podcasts,” reads a post on social media, flagging the downfall of the trend. Forming opinions and taking decisions on the basis of a nexus between influencers and political parties remains a gray area of the trend. 

 

The one whose repercussions will be completely seen in the times to come. Fow now, the influencers are here to stay, as is the social media and their coupling with politics is just a start.