By Mrinal Talukdar
In the heart of Mariani, Shmyalee Barua balances the demands of homemaking with her fervent engagement in politics. Her husband works in a private organization, and together they raise two children.
Despite her busy schedule, Shmyalee is constantly on her mobile phone, either reading or typing out her thoughts. Her strong opinions about the general election are unwavering, and she views Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a divine figure, a true avatar of God.
150 kilometers away in Tezpur, Ramen Das works as a private security guard at a bank. Though seemingly nondescript, Ramen’s political views are anything but. He is vehemently opposed to Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), never missing an opportunity to troll or taunt any BJP supporter he encounters.
Shmyalee and Ramen are emblematic of a broader phenomenon sweeping across India. This election season, passive voters are a relic of the past. From inheritance tax to the Gaza conflict, everyone has an opinion. The electorate is no longer a silent majority but a cacophony of voices, each with strong likes and dislikes.

The Digital Battleground
Welcome to the General Election 2024 of India, where traditional media plays a supporting role to digital content and micro-targeting. This is not just another election; it is a digital battlefield where data and algorithms reign supreme.
The political parties and politicians have used data to micro-target common citizens, giving rise to the likes of Shmyalee and Ramen, making them freelancers working for the party and its ideology. Both sides have lakhs like them.
The Congress, despite being in disarray over funds and muscle, could pose a threat to the BJP only because of this technology. Otherwise, on the ground, they are no match to BJP’s massive muscle.
In this election, almost every Indian voter has a strong opinion on any given topic, and discussions about Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, and other political figures dominate social media.
The political engagement of voters has taken on extreme forms. Effusive praise and abusive criticism are commonplace, and political discourse has become polarized. Indian voters have transformed into politicians, each manifesting their beliefs and opinions in everyday conversations and online interactions.
Unbeknownst to many, this election is heavily influenced by micro-targeting. The mobile phones that Indians carry are more knowledgeable about their users than the users themselves. Every action, from online shopping to social media activity, is tracked and analyzed, creating a detailed profile of each voter. This data is then used to target voters with personalized content, a process so advanced it makes the documentary “The Great Hack” about the role of Cambridge Analytica on political strategy management look mild in comparison.
India’s high smartphone penetration and lax data regulations have created a perfect storm for micro-targeting. Private companies, often without stringent oversight, collect and sell data, allowing political parties to know intimate details about voters, even down to what they are eating on a given day.
Privacy International describes micro-targeting as the use of personal data to target individuals with information and advertisements to an unprecedented degree of personalization. This practice is not new, but its application in the Indian context is unparalleled.
The concept of data-driven elections gained notoriety with Cambridge Analytica’s involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The firm allegedly used data sold by Facebook to profile voters and deliver pro-Trump content, although it denied these allegations. In 2022, Meta (formerly Facebook) settled a lawsuit related to this data breach for $725 million. This controversy left many questioning whether targeted advertisements influenced their votes and sparked global concerns about the impact on democracy.
In India, both the BJP and the opposition Congress party have been linked to Cambridge Analytica affiliates, though both deny any involvement. Despite the controversies, micro-targeting remains a powerful tool in Indian elections.
With approximately 650 million smartphone users, each equipped with data-sharing apps, the potential for micro-targeting is immense. Moreover, the government itself holds vast amounts of personal data, further complicating the privacy landscape.
As legal battles over privacy continue and ‘Data-Politicians’ attempt to influence public opinion, voters like Shmyalee and Ramen remain steadfast in their beliefs.
Shmyalee fears a Congress victory would lead to her belongings being redistributed to Muslims, while Ramen views BJP supporters as the greatest threat to Indian democracy.
The General Election 2024 in India is not just a political contest but a testament to the profound changes in voter behavior driven by digital technology.
As micro-targeting reshapes the political landscape, every voter becomes a participant in a highly personalized and data-driven electoral process. This election underscores the need for robust data protection laws and greater transparency in how personal data is used in politics, as the lines between reality and digital manipulation blur ever further.
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