Today, 10th May 2023, is when Karnataka goes to polls to elect its next government.
The BJP is hoping to retain the only South Indian state it rules, while Congress is eyeing a comeback. For the JD(S), it is a matter of political survival, say some pundits, while others insist that it could be kingmaker.
The campaign trail saw traditional channels like roadshows and rallies, advertising across major media, celebrity presence and use of digital media and mobile in myriad ways.
We asked a few political watchers: How would you compare the political campaigns in Karnataka elections 2023 vis-a-vis elections in 2019 (parliament) and 2018 (assembly)? Have we seen a more aggressive campaign this year?
‘Mind-boggling fake content’
“Compared to the last couple of elections, not just aggression, but there’s better planning, public relations and organised communications strategy by political parties. Impressive efforts have been made to use multiple media platforms for messaging including conventional, social, digital and new media. However, I am very disappointed with the mind-boggling fake content that have been used in this election which can land not only political parties in trouble, but also get research, PR and advertising agencies involved in conceptualisation, design, development and production of media deliverables, in legal tangles. Hope this situation improves,” says, Krishna B Mariyanka, Brand, Reputation and Political Communications Consultant, Ajira Global.
According to Raghavendra Rao, Partner & CEO Bernay IMC, in 2019 too the campaigns were noisy, but back then the BJP was aggressive while Congress was mellowed down facing anti-incumbency and its social media was ineffective.
“BJP has been ahead of the times when it comes to campaigning ever since they came to power. This year it is visible that both parties have spent huge sums on all mediums to stay relevant. Road shows have been a new concept which many are riding on this time around which consumes huge manpower, money, logistics, planning and implementation. This medium also brings people connect. Political parties also get a touch and feel of the activity which is important,” he explains.
Anusha Ravi Sood, Political Editor, South First, notes, “In 2018, BJP campaigns for votes were more powerful and impactful. They had a whole social media team, which was extremely good with campaigns and narration. Congress though had its own social media team was following the narrative set by BJP. In 2018, BJP had two advantages, they had a very strong local face projected as the Chief Minister candidate in BS Yediyurappa. They also had an added advantage of Narendra Modi’s popularity. In 2023, there is a slight decline in Modi’s popularity compared to 2018.”
According to her, it’s the Congress who has had an upper hand in the 2023 election campaigns.
Sood adds, “In 2023, Congress has taken the cue from BJP’s election campaigns theme of corruption and built on it better. The Congress campaign has been quite offensive not defensive, unlike the previous elections. They also have done a lot of work at the booth level. The BJP has primarily focused on the election again on emotive issues like taking reservation from Muslims and giving it to the dominant Hindu communities. While BJP’s entire campaign has been about emotive issues, Congress has gone down to core actual livelihood issues like inflation, unemployment etc.”
Pre-poll surveys – a new revenue model for media
So which medium has been largely used by the political parties now?
“Regional TV takes the lead as it has that reach and rural population rely on this medium largely as they aren’t social media-savvy,” observes Rao.
“TV gives a lot more options to parties like debates, live shows, engaging shows etc. However, the younger lot consume a lot more social media options irrespective of rural or urban profile. Print takes the third position in terms of spends while that comes as a package of ad plus editorial. But traditional media is relevant because of its brand value. With media houses also jumping into pre poll surveys, that too has become a revenue model. Karnataka saw as many as nine pre poll surveys, each of them have been lopsided for political outfits to drive a narrative. In short, elections are an occasion for the media to milk the political outfits and to generate revenue for their media houses,” he contends.
Karan Taurani, SVP, Elara Capital shares a similar opinion. He says, “TV is a strong medium for all political parties in Karnataka, especially the news genre. The time spent on TV news consumption in South India is 20 to 30 pc higher compared to the pan-India average. Though digital is growing faster, it remains a small portion of the overall campaign mix. If it is compared with pan-India average, Hindi speaking markets have seen faster adoption to digital as compared to South,” Taurani adds.
“In 2018, social media played a key role in the BJP election campaign. They had also done massive election campaigns through WhatsApp groups which has continued in the 2023 elections as well. The Congress also has done it in a better way, especially the social media game. The Bharat Jodo Yatra also has helped the social media game of Congress. Television has been a major part of BJP’s media mix and that hasn’t changed this year. After many years, Congress has bought out front page ads consistently for four to five days, which normally is done by BJP,” notes Sood.
“Many new digital media including social and professional channels have seen massive investment and usage by political parties to communicate their strategic election-related messages,” observes Mariyanka.
Video content has seen a huge rise this time, he adds.
Results on 13 May will tell us which of the exit polls got it right.
