Schemes, scams, and satire: AI takes over Delhi poll campaign

From promoting schemes to fact-checking election promises, political parties are spending big on social media with a creative blend to connect with voters, writes ANUSHKA BHARDWAJ

- ANUSHKA BHARDWAJ

In the runup to the 2020 Assembly elections in Delhi, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) 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 (BJP) 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 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 Saturday development is one of many innovative social media campaigns with a focus on artificial intelligence (AI)-generated videos that have kept the 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, har 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.