Synopsis
Political parties in India are increasingly using AI for election campaigns, generating digital humans and personalized content to reach voters. While AI accelerates content production and targeted outreach, its direct electoral impact is still considered limited, with human intelligence and traditional methods remaining crucial for strategy.She is not a real person, but a digital human generated using artificial intelligence.
The videos, uploaded on the INCTamilNadu handles across Meta platforms and X since January, are part of a broader push towards tech-driven campaigning, as parties gear up for assembly elections in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam and Puducherry.
“We have named her Rakhamma. She speaks about Congress policies and why people should support the party,” said Nabil Ahamed, chairman of the social media and digital platforms department of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee. “In February alone, we clocked nearly 68 million views across platforms.”
The push also reflects a wider shift towards AI-backed political outreach.
Both the BJP and Congress have significantly scaled up their social media presence as campaigning intensifies. The official BJP handle has around 17 million followers on Facebook and 8.6 million on Instagram, while the Congress has about 10 million followers on Facebook and 12.4 million on Instagram.
A significant portion of digital content pushed by parties such as the BJP, Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in these elections is driven by AI tools, according to party functionaries and experts.
The Tamil Nadu Congress’ AI-led video campaigning is a recent initiative adopted under Ahamed, who took charge of the party’s social media operations in December. “We first created an AI character in Puducherry. After it gained traction, we replicated the model in Tamil Nadu,” he said.
The party is also working with a mix of internal and external teams to scale up content production. “We work with 30-35 members from external teams to produce campaign content,” Ahamed said.
The BJP, for its part, has maintained an aggressive social media presence well ahead of the elections, even stirring controversy.
In Assam, the state unit of the ruling BJP had faced backlash in February over a video posted on its official handle, which showed chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in a stylised sequence firing an airgun at two men wearing skull caps. The video, captioned “Point-blank shot”, was later taken down following criticism.
Despite such controversies, the BJP has maintained a strong and expansive social media presence. While its Assam unit is highly active, its Bengal handles on Meta platforms such as Facebook and Instagram show even higher engagement, with a combined following of more than 3 million, significantly higher than in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry
This is the first election where TMC has used AI in its election campaign. “However, it accounts for only 20–25% of our overall campaign content. We largely depend on our leader, Mamata Banerjee, with her speeches playing a major role in leading it,” said Dola Sen, president of the Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress.
Regional flavour
Parties are tailoring their digital strategies to regional contexts.
“For states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu, we follow a different strategy, unlike North Indian states. Content must be created in local languages to connect with people and convey the right intent,” said Abhijith Radhakrishnan Nair, BJP’s Kerala social media and IT convener. “Execution is largely handled at the state level, while the broader narrative comes from the national team.”
Regional parties are deploying AI primarily for video content that highlights their achievements or critiques rival governments. The DMK, Tamil Nadu’s ruling party, uses tech to understand the pulse of the electorate and deliver targeted communication.
Tamil Nadu industries minister TRB Rajaa said the DMK has launched an AI-powered platform, tnmanifesto.ai, which crowdsources public inputs for its election manifesto. “It consolidates suggestions from phone, WhatsApp and the website, categorises them sector-wise, and helps interpret data across diverse populations,” he said. “AI also enables targeted communication, repurposing of speeches, personalised voice calls and automated WhatsApp outreach.”
The party’s cadre use AI-based applications to design and edit clips and create posters, he said, adding that these tools have helped improve productivity.
Distribution strategies vary. In Kerala, the Congress relies less on AI-led content on public social media feeds, instead pushing a large share through closed networks.
“Not all content is shared on official pages, some of it is distributed via WhatsApp groups managed by the party’s digital task force,” said Vijay Thottathil, a member of the party’s social media team in the state. “The network operates from the assembly level down to districts, panchayats and booths, and has been in place for three years.”
“AI was not used in the last elections, but we are already seeing higher viewership now,” Thottathil said. “Leaders, including those in the opposition, have become more effective in rebuttals, which is driving engagement.”
Limited impact, for now
Despite the growing use of AI-driven content, experts say its electoral impact remains limited at this stage.
“AI tools help accelerate research and planning, but final decisions still rely on fieldwork and traditional surveys. Regardless of technological advances, human intelligence will continue to drive political strategy,” Tamil Nadu minister Rajaa said.
Geethu Sivakumar, founder of Kerala-based digital marketing agency Pace, said voters may not fully engage with AI-generated content.
“Many people prefer to see real leaders rather than synthetic visuals. While such content is gaining traction online, it is too early to say it will significantly influence election outcomes,” she said. “However, in the future, AI is likely to become a major factor.”
One of the biggest advantages of AI is its ability to recreate political figures from the past or revive historical issues, which has been gaining traction in these elections in Kerala, she added.
According to Sivakumar, producing a one-minute AI-generated video can cost Rs 15,000-20,000. Most political parties maintain in-house teams while also working with external agencies for content creation.
