The Great Indian (S) Election

The greater reliance on data and new forms of communication in India’s electoral campaigns has created a cottage industry of political consultants and data experts who lend their services to political parties and candidates, mapping constituencies and helping them target voters through these new tools.

- Gilles Verniers

Shivam Shankar Singh, a data analyst and former BJP campaign analyst, provides an insider’s account of digital campaigning in India. In seven chapters, Singh chronicles his journey serving various parties, detailing the part of political consultants, the role of technology and data in micro-targeting voters, and the attempts parties make to influence voters by appealing to local ascriptive identities and emotions.

One merit of the book is an insider’s candid admission of what is already known: the current regulatory void regarding data and privacy in India enables parties to gather vast amounts of data on voters, data that most would not entrust political parties with were their permission explicitly sought.

The chapters dealing with graver forms of manipulation, such as fake news, are written in general terms and do not bring much more information than what an informed reader would have already gathered in perusing the daily press. Nor does the author dwell much on the sources of disinformation, or on its organised nature.