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India
This Week in AsiaPolitics

Indian politicians’ partnerships with influencers to woo voters spark ‘dark money’, transparency concerns

  • Politicians from the ruling BJP and Congress Party have engaged influencers to put a positive spin ahead of this year’s general election
  • Analysts have flagged concerns about such commercial alliances and called for greater regulatory oversight

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A visitor passes a mural depicting various social media sites logos in Bangalore. Photo: AFP
Vasudevan Sridharan

Indian influencer Ranveer Allahbadia, better known by his moniker BeerBiceps, has amassed a following of 11 million fans across YouTube and Instagram, sharing everything from fashion tips to motivational advice for the past decade.

But many of his videos have crossed over to the political domain over the past year, including interviews with top officials from India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) such as Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and Minority Affairs Minister Smriti Irani.

Chatting about politics, lifestyle and personal issues, these leaders appear relaxed and personable in slickly produced podcasts designed to appeal to millennials and Gen Z Indians.

With tens of millions of first-time voters set to cast their ballots in the April general election, 30-year-old Allahbadia is part of a wave of social media personalities being deployed by Indian parties to secure the youth vote, analysts say.

“For the 2024 elections in India, the influencer industry is becoming integral to political campaigning,” said Shudeep Majumdar, co-founder of the influencer marketing firm Zefmo Media.

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