Was the 2019 Indian election won by digital media?

Abstract

ABSTRACT Research on the reasons for the unexpected outcome of the 2019 national election in India can be divided into two strands: one strand examines the election without recourse to media, arguing that the appeals by parties to different segments of the population, referred to as identity politics, swayed voters. The other strand has made the case that media campaigns, and digital media in particular, were decisive in shaping the electoral outcome. Among the explanations that focus on media, these can be further subdivided into those that make the case for traditional media still playing a more important role than online media, and others that argue that digital media, and perhaps even online disinformation, played a key role. In this paper, we analyze the evidence for these competing accounts, drawing on the available evidence. We argue that an explanation based on combining elements from both strands, plus the interaction between digital media and traditional media and offline mobilization, together explain Modi’s unanticipated election victory.