From dubbing voices to putting faces with the help of AI, political campaigns are undergoing a Bollywood makeover.
Among the favourites is a scene from the Anil Kapoor-starrer Nayak, posted by the BJP, where Kapoor asks about the Chunaavi Vaade (poll promise), with Arvind Kejriwal at the receiving end instead of Amrish Puri.
In the run-up to the 2020 assembly elections in Delhi, Aam Aadmi Party chief and then chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had famously promised to transform the national capital's roads into those in London and Tokyo within five years if re-elected.
Now, when the Union Territory goes to another election, Saturday's record single-day December rainfall turned into a flashpoint for political sparring.
Taking a dig at Kejriwal's promise, the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party shared a video of the damaged streets of Rohini's Maharana Pratap Chowk with the caption: 'Let's take you on a tour to London.'
The Congress went a step further when it shared a video of an e-rickshaw driver from the Badli assembly constituency.
'This road (Swaroop Nagar road) has been broken for the last eight years. Water accumulates within a few minutes of rainfall,' the driver is seen complaining in the video.
The December 28, 2024 development is one of many innovative social media campaigns with a focus on artificial intelligence (AI)-generated videos that have kept political parties busy over the past couple of months as they work to forge stronger connections with voters ahead of the polls early next year.
While the BJP's Mahathug (biggest fraudster) tag and the Congress' Mauka, mauka, harr baar dhokha (betrayal at every point) campaign aim to call out the AAP's perceived failures, the ruling party is trying to come back for a third straight term focusing on kaam ki rajneeti (politics of work) to highlight the government's new and existing welfare schemes.
Basic issues of cleanliness, water, and roads are taking centre stage in digital campaigns.
"With over 1 million followers on its Delhi Instagram page, the BJP is leading in reach, but in terms of per-post engagement, the AAP is slightly ahead," says Diggaj Mogra, a political consultant and director at Jarvis Technology and Strategy Consulting.
The Congress, on the other hand, is lagging.
"Nearly 30 per cent of the entire advertising budget is now being spent on social media campaigns by the parties. This was less than 5 per cent a few years ago," Mogra adds.
The road map
As Kejriwal, who is out on bail in a money laundering case involving the Delhi liquor scam case, has given way to senior party leader Atishi to lead the government till he proves his 'innocence' through a victory in the next election, the BJP and Congress are crafting detailed campaign strategies.
"We are building a 10-year narrative," says a BJP social media team source.
"Our team is analysing old manifestos to compare promises with reality."
In a social media post, for instance, the BJP has compiled clips from 2015 to 2023 of Kejriwal promising to cover the city with a comprehensive water pipeline system.
Similarly, the Congress posted a series of videos with the theme of Jhooth Ki Rewdi Ka Sach (Truth of about the false promises) that highlight discrepancies between AAP's commitments and achievements, especially in the education and health care sectors.
"Our quick-response team is constantly fact-checking claims made by the AAP government," says Rahul Sharma, social media working chairman of the Delhi Congress. A BJP social media team member says: "Our digital team is also on the ground to check facts."
AAP, in contrast, is pressing hard on promoting two newly launched schemes: The Sanjeevani Yojana, which aims to offer free comprehensive health coverage to all Delhi residents aged 60 and above, and the Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana that will provide eligible women above 18 years with monthly assistance of Rs 1,000, which will go up to Rs 2,100 if the AAP is voted back to power.
"With putting these and our existing schemes in focus, we aim to create the sentiment that voting out AAP will pinch citizens' pockets," says an AAP source.
"We're also amplifying that no other leader in Delhi matches Kejriwal's stature."
Meanwhile, the BJP is "alerting" citizens about another 'fraud' by the AAP in the name of these schemes.
On what has changed from the Lok Sabha polls, Mogra says: "AAP's direct attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reduced. They are targeting Amit Shah, primarily over law and order, and other members of Parliament, including Bansuri Swaraj and Praveen Khandelwal."
It's all AI
On December 25, the AAP shared an artificial intelligence (AI)-generated video with Kejriwal dressed as Santa Claus handing out 'gifts' such as Rs 2,100 as promised in the Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana and free bus tickets.
This came days after an AI-created video showed B R Ambedkar 'blessing' the AAP supremo to fight against those who "disrespect" the Constitution.
While two of these videos might have garnered the most attention on social media, Divyendra Singh Jadoun, the founder of The Indian Deepfaker, says each campaign post is having at least one element of AI.
Videos costing up to Rs 1 lakh earlier can now be produced for under Rs 5,000 with AI, he says.
Among the new experiences, Jadoun points out the emergence of two-way communication, where AI calls will respond to the actual answers given by voters.
"This was also a plan for the Lok Sabha polls, but the risk factor is high. There are ways to detect deepfakes, but one cannot differentiate between such calls," he adds.
What suits where
Parties are tailoring their content strategies to suit different platforms.
"For issues like clusters and cleanliness, we prefer WhatsApp and Facebook. Instagram is more suited for topics like education, health, and employment," says Sharma of the Congress.
According to an AAP social media member, short-format videos are working for multiple platforms, but X is used to garner quick responses. The viral Kejriwal-Ambedkar video was picked up from X, he says.
The BJP, as a cadre-based party, is using WhatsApp as a major networking tool.
"They have thousands of WhatsApp groups at micro levels," Mogra says.
According to Sharma, 80 per cent of Congress' posts are issue-specific; the rest is news.
AAP also operates district-wise Instagram pages to ensure targeted engagement.
To maintain algorithms, the parties are putting out over 25 posts on each social media platform.
"We aim for a minimum of 50 posts on X, over 20 reels and shorts, and two-three YouTube videos daily," says an AAP source.
Filmy makeover
From dubbing voices to putting faces with the help of AI, political campaigns are undergoing a Bollywood makeover.
Among the favourites is a scene from the Anil Kapoor-starrer Nayak, posted by the BJP, where Kapoor asks about the Chunaavi Vaade (poll promise), with AAP's Kejriwal at the receiving end instead of Amrish Puri.
AAP has also modified a scene from the movie Deewar, where Amitabh Bachchan is assured that he will receive the benefits of the Sanjeevni Yojna despite having a 'fridge, television, vehicle, and a home'.
"We have to reach the non-political audience as well -- those who would engage only through such content," says an AAP member.
The BJP, on the other hand, quickly joined the poster war on various issues. The Congress campaign based on the reality TV show Bigg Boss is also gaining traction.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
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