NEW DELHI - Political parties in India are wooing social media influencers, opening up a new frontier for their public outreach ahead of the 2024 general election.
At least five federal ministers have appeared on YouTube shows in recent weeks as part of a "collaboration" exercise initiated by MyGov, a government-run citizen engagement platform that is working with social media influencers such as Mr Ranveer Allahbadia and Mr Raj Shamani, offering viewers a peek into their lives and work.
Better known as @BeerBiceps, the former has 5.7 million subscribers on YouTube and Mr Shamani has 1.37 million.
Those who have gone online include the likes of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar who appeared on Mr Allahbadia's show on June 16, and Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari who was featured on Mr Shamani's YouTube channel on May 31.
It is not just the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but also Congress' Rahul Gandhi and leaders from other opposition parties who have opened up to social media influencers.
On June 26, the Congress-led state government in Rajasthan, which goes to the polls at the end of 2023, even formalised its engagement with influencers, announcing it would issue them advertisements ranging from 10,000 rupees to 500,000 rupees (S$163 to S$8,144) a month, depending on their reach.
This trend of increased influencer engagement is an inevitability, given the growth in Internet users in India.
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