With India’s election coming up soon, candidates are competing for the position of Prime Minister. The two front runners include Narendra Modi, who is the current Prime Minister, and Rahul Ghandi, who is a fourth generation member of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that has ruled India for much of its history since independence from Britain in 1947. Ghandi has taken the approach of appealing to the people who live in southern India because the opposing party is popular in northern and western India. However, with his enormous following and control over mass media, it is likely that Modi will win despite Ghandi’s efforts. The political party Modi represents,known as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),recently launched a
mobile app called “NaMo TV,” whose purpose is to promote the Prime Minister. The party estimates there have been about 100 million downloads which verifies Modi’s popularity among the Indian. Not only has the app
been influential,but Modi’s social media following is among some of the largest in the world; Modi’s twitter account is the third largest on Twitter behind Donald Trump and Barack Obama. With the power to influence the Indian population through social media, Modi has an unfair advantage over the other candidates because it is easier to promote his campaign. As a republic who is supposed to elect their Prime Ministers democratically, it is important that the process remains fair for all of the candidates; however, Modi has the ability to promote himself through what could be perceived as propaganda which influences society and increases his popularity.
