As the General Elections draw near, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is significantly increasing its expenditure on social media advertising.
Over the last three months, the saffron party has spent more than ₹6 crore on its official Facebook page and an astounding ₹30 crore for election campaigns on Google ads, according to a data-sheet shared by journalist and fact-checker Muhammed Zubair on X.
BJP’s expenditure on Google ads in February skyrocketed by 60% compared to its total spending over the past five years.
Additionally, a shadow network of pro-BJP pages has spent over ₹7 crore on Meta ads since November, showed the data.
Among the notable spenders on Facebook, besides BJP, are Odisha’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD), West Bengal’s Trinamool Congress, and Andhra Pradesh’s Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP).
BJD’s official page was the second-highest spender initially, but recently, Hindutva shadowy pages like Ulta Chashma and Phir Ek Baar Modi Sarkaar have outspent them, with expenditures exceeding ₹2 crore and ₹1.9 crore, respectively.
In the Meta advertising arena, BJP reigns supreme, with nearly ₹8 crore spent through its official page and its election page Phir Ek Bar Modi Sarkar. Following closely behind is Ulta Chashma, which poured over ₹3 crore into its pages Ulta Chashma and Political X-ray, emerging as the second-highest advertiser on the platform in February.
Ulta Chashma with its network of six other pages and corresponding Instagram accounts, including MemeXpress and Political X-ray, have come under scrutiny for spreading misinformation and hate speech.
The network, which began its operations in November last year, has spent over three crore rupees promoting more than a thousand ads on Meta-owned platforms. It has been accused of targeting protesting farmers advocating for a minimum support price and demonising Muslims in India.
Despite lacking a direct link to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Ulta Chashma and its associated pages have focused on undermining Opposition parties while promoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Investigations have revealed that these pages have also targeted religious minority groups with false information and hateful content.
The ruling party, BJP, is the top spender on Google ads as well, according to data from Google’s ad transparency center.
Since December, the party has splurged nearly ₹30 crore on advertisements.
Since May 31, 2018, BJP has spent close to ₹80 crore on Google ads, indicating a substantial increase in spending, with the last three month’s expenditure marking a 60% rise compared to the past five years combined.
Apart from BJP, other significant advertisers include the BJP led union gevernment and state governments of Odisha, with expenditures of ₹14 crore and ₹1.8 crore, respectively.
Political consultancy firm IPAC and a DMK-affiliated agency named Populous Empowerment Network also featured prominently, spending ₹1.8 crore and ₹63 lakh on ads, respectively.
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