The 'Legitimacy' Of Data Driven Elections

Introduction

Elections in India, are the largest democratic electoral process in the world. Until late 2000s, election campaigning in India was largely physical and broadcast-oriented, relying heavily on public rallies, newspaper advertisements, posters, television outreach and door-to-door reach outs.¹ Digital campaigning and voter analytics played little or no significant role during this period.

By contrast, post 2010, India witnessed explosive digital growth. By the 2014 general elections, political parties were estimated to have spent between Rs. 400 crores and Rs. 500 crores on digital platforms alone, constituting nearly 15% of the total political advertising expenditure.² The transition accelerated further during the 2019 general elections - India then had nearly 900 million eligible voters, with almost half having access to the internet and social media platforms. India had over 300 million Facebook users and more than 200 million WhatsApp users during the election