The 2008 Karnataka Legislative Assembly Election served as Bhartiya Janata Party’s gateway to southern India where, for the first time, the party formed government despite not winning a clear majority. Since then, the party has effectively consolidated a dedicated voter base in most of the adjoining states with the exception of Kerala where the Left Democratic Front and the Congress party have managed retained power.

One of the prime reasons behind the saffron surge down south is the dwindling hold of regional parties over traditionally held constituencies. Parties like AIADMK, Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Telugu Desam Party, Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party, and Janata Dal (Secular), which have long enjoyed cultural support in certain states owing to family fiefdoms, have been unable to sustain themselves over the years. This coupled with a unified awakening of Hindu consciousness in the southern region has sidelined party dynasties that have ruled Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh for decades. Additionally, with a politically disintegrating Congress party, voters now look over to the BJP for economic growth and stability. The Bhartiya Janata Party has also, through the course of several election cycles, formed strategic alliances to come to power. An example of the same being the JDS-BJP alliance in the state of Karnataka.

Tracing the BJP’s trajectory in Kerala, the party has managed to establish a presence over the years. The Bhartiya Janata Party has substantially increased its vote share from 6.03% in the 2011 Legislative Assembly to 14.96% in the 2016 State Election. Keeping in line with its progress, the party won 15% of the votes in Kerala’s 2020 Civic Body Election. While it has not been able to form government in Kerala so far, the BJP is projected to win a substantial vote share in the upcoming election. Similarly, the party has been unable to win a single seat in the Union Territory of Puducherry, since its vote share has only gone up to 2.4%. The nominations of three MLAs from the Bhartiya Janata Party by the Centre in 2018 to the assembly sparked controversy which was quickly dispersed by the Madras High Court by upholding the Centre’s action. The party is expected to form a coalition with AIADMK in the upcoming election.

With the exception of Kerala and Puducherry, the BJP has practically taken over the southern states, projecting a unified front against politically endorsed regionalism which has served local parties for decades. The party’s stellar performance in the newly formed state of Telangana at the assembly and municipal level is a testament to their growing influence in South. Although the BJP’s seat share in Andhra Pradesh has dropped from 4 to none, the party has been able to establish a vote bank in the state given their strategic alliances with the existing regional parties. Similarly, in Tamil Nadu, the party has been observing a steady rise in popularity given their promises of fast paced economic development. While the Bhartiya Janata Party has not been able to solidify power in the southern states, it is in the process of doing so as a part of its expansionist agenda. The party attempts to unite a fragmented South under the banner of Hinduism and economic development.

Digital Media Strategies in Political Campaign

With the advent of digital media, the nature of political campaigning has changed over the years. Digital campaigning, at a national level, was first introduced by the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2009 Lok Sabha Election. The 2014 Lok Sabha Election was a testament to the same where the BJP, with its dedicated social media campaigning, took the country by storm. Since then parties across the country have been drifting away from more traditional structures of reaching out to their audience and have started embracing digital campaigning.

Interactive Voice Response (IVR) has emerged as an effective tool to gather public opinion towards candidates. IVRs engage with voters through automated outbound calls and voters register their opinions by merely pressing a button on their phone. Additionally, bulk messages or blast messages also help candidates reach out to a wide audience and keep in touch with them. It is a one-way communicative channel that makes one-to-one communication easier. Furthermore, with a huge chunk of the population making use of WhatsApp, it also has come up as a platform for engagement by candidates through forwarded messages.

The most crucial element to digital campaigning is collating a specialized media team. The team creates content and engages with people for the candidate. Fundamentally, social media campaigns, across platforms, should appeal to a wide demographic. However, since most candidates have a target audience based on the nature of their policies, specialized ads for a targeted audience on certain social media platforms should also be a priority. Another important aspect of digital campaigning is personal engagement. This personal engagement, through live videos or tweets, should ideally be of positive nature with personal anecdotes.

It is also important for the campaign team to be consistent with their posting, whether it is on social media or a website made for the campaign. The goal of leaving an impact on people can be achieved by churning more graphic content with images, slogans, party/candidate symbols, colors, etc. in lieu of written content.

Hence, digital campaigning can help candidates reach out to a wider audience if used strategically. It is an attractive campaigning field since a lot of everyday discourse happens on the internet. Candidates can expand their voter base with the help of impactful targeted ad campaigns and change the course of the election.