Modern Communication Strategies and Electoral Dominance

Electoral success in India requires deliberate efforts on multiple fronts, including but not limited to communication strategies, building a leader’s personal appeal, political ideology and recently, appeasing the majority. Articles in this series tackle several aspects, using the backdrop of whether a new political system has been put in place after the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014 and if this system resembles the erstwhile ‘‘Congress System’’ of the 1950s and 1960s. Even though the kind of electoral dominance achieved by the BJP in the national elections has been unprecedented in the last three decades, it failed to achieve similar results in state elections. Articles discuss the resonance of the voter with the politics of majoritarianism and whether the current system falls under the realm of “competitive authoritarianism” wherein formal institutions decidedly favour the current ruling party. Further, there is a centralisation of power wherein the prime minister is disproportionately credited for the welfare benefits of various schemes. Thus, this new political system is characterised by the politics of majoritarianism, competitive authoritarianism and centralisation of welfare delivery together with the use of innovative communication strategies. 

The papers are based on a roundtable organised by the Institute of South Asian Studies, NUS.

The Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) at the National University of Singapore held a virtual roundtable on 27 May 2020, a year after India’s 2019 general election. The purpose of the roundtable was to discuss the medium-term implications of...
This paper looks at how Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi used traditional media–radio and print–and their communication styles. It then goes on to examine Narendra Modi’s use of media and his ways of communication, drawing comparisons with the...
India is no longer a liberal democracy. Bharatiya janata Party leaders are creating a new kind of political order that is an example of “competitive authoritarianism.” They have mounted a broad assault on democratic institutions, norms and practices...
Is the BJP's rise a result of piggy-backing on Narendra Modi’s unique appeal or did Modi fast-forward a historical process that was imagined and set in motion by the Bharatiya Janata Party and its predecessors almost a century ago? We argue that a...
This article seeks to understand the puzzling disjuncture between the Bharatiya Janata Party’s sweeping electoral success in recent national elections and its lacklustre performance in state elections. I suggest that this phenomenon is a result of...
Through its six years in office, the Bharatiya Janata Party government has become a “Modi regime.” This new regime is set to change the characteristics of India’s competitive politics such as structure of party competition and nature of agenda,...
Through its six years in office, the Bharatiya Janata Party government has become a “Modi regime.” This new regime is set to change the characteristics of India’s competitive politics such as structure of party competition and nature of agenda,...
Back to Top