The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Online Campaign and Citizen Involvement in India’s 2014 Election

Authors

  • Kalyani Chadha Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland College Park
  • Pallavi Guha University of Maryland

Keywords:

India, BJP, election campaign, participation, citizens, 2014

Abstract

The impact of the Internet on politics and electoral campaigns is the focus of considerable—and, as yet, unsettled—debate. This article focuses on the manner in which the Bharatiya Janata Party—which became the first party since 1984 to win an absolute majority in India’s parliament—engaged citizen supporters in the party’s successful social media campaign. Employing data from interviews with party functionaries and volunteers, we examine the extent to which interaction with supporters represented an effort to shift away from the traditional top-down model of campaigning toward a participatory approach.

Author Biographies

Kalyani Chadha, Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland College Park

Assistant Professor and Director, Media, Self and Society Scholars Program 

Pallavi Guha, University of Maryland

Doctoral Candidate, Merrill Colleg eof Journalism, University of Maryland

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Published

2016-08-30

Issue

Vol. 10 (2016)

Section

Articles

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