Dominance of BJP IT Cell
In recent years, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Information Technology (IT) Cell has built an unparalleled digital machinery that reaches millions of Indians daily. At its core are roughly 5,500–6,000 full-time operatives under National Convener Amit Malviya, supported by an estimated 150,000 contract “social-media workers” disseminating content across platforms Wikipedia. Ahead of the 2020 Bihar polls alone, the party appointed 9,500 IT-Cell heads at every shakti kendra (local office) and spun up 72,000 WhatsApp groups to push curated political messaging to booth-level workers and voters ThePrint. This vast network empowers hyper-targeted, 24×7 narrative management — often blurring the line between legitimate outreach and coordinated misinformation.
The Architecture of the BJP IT Cell
Organizational Scale and Structure
- Core Team: According to public records, the BJP IT Cell employs about 5,500–6,000 staffers nationwide, led by Amit Malviya since 2015 Wikipedia.
- Grassroots Cadre: Beyond the core, some 150,000 part-time social-media operatives are mobilized to forward messages, manage groups, and engage in online debates on demand X (formerly Twitter).
- State-Level Deployment: In Bihar, for instance, each of the state’s 9,500 shakti kendras had its own IT-Cell head, overseeing six to seven booths apiece, ensuring hyper-local coverage ThePrint.
Digital Infrastructure and Reach
- Multi-Platform Pipeline: The Cell coordinates content dissemination via WhatsApp, Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, YouTube, and the party-owned NaMo TV channel, leveraging platform APIs and “shadow advertisers” for paid reach ThePrint.
- Historical Continuity: BJP’s tech-driven outreach predates Modi’s prime ministry — Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s 2004 pre-recorded phone messages, the 2014 “3D vans,” and the 2019 “missed-call” campaign underscore a long-standing strategy to pioneer political tech ThePrint.
Motives Behind the Dominance
Electoral Gains and Vote Mobilization
- Mindshare Capture: As one former UP-BJP IT volunteer put it, “Our aim was to capture the mind of the voter… Whenever they look, they should see us, hear our message” Wikipedia.
- Women’s Outreach War Room: In 2024, a clandestine “war room” led by data-analytics teams targeted 12.5 million female voters through WhatsApp, call centers, and the SARAL app — showing how finely segmented BJP’s voter-contact operations have become WIRED.
Narrative Control and Political Messaging
- First-Mover Advantage: Modi’s X (formerly Twitter) account launched in 2009, six years before his chief rival followed suit — an early sign of BJP’s eagerness to own the digital narrative Wikipedia.
- Content Monetization: The Cell has even persuaded platforms to “monetize” friendly pages, enabling pro-BJP news outlets to earn ad revenue and thereby sustain volume-intensive content production The Indian Express.
Tactics and Use of Misinformation
WhatsApp Campaigns and Viral Content
- Booth-Level Distribution: The 72,000 WhatsApp groups in Bihar alone function as mini newsrooms, pushing videos, text, and audio clips directly to voters’ pockets — unstoppable unless users opt out manually ThePrint.
- Fact-Check Debunkings: AltNews identified 16 separate misinformation narratives spun by Amit Malviya’s account, from fake “terrorist scooter rides” allegations to doctored protest footage Scroll.in.
Social Media Amplification and Shadow Advertisers
- Deepfakes: The Reuters Institute flagged a surge of AI-generated videos in India’s 2024 polls — featuring bogus speeches and endorsements — often traced back to pro-BJP networks seeking viral reach Reuters Institute.
- Paid Promotions: Time Magazine’s investigation uncovered “shadow advertisers” running covert pro-Modi ads on Instagram and X, circumventing transparency rules to micro-target swing demographics Time.
- Industrial-Scale Misinformation: Freedom House called India’s elections “plagued” by politically orchestrated disinformation, with the BJP’s machine producing “inflammatory, often false, and bigoted material” on an industrial scale Freedom House.
Case Studies: Notable Misinformation Episodes
- Farmers’ Protest Manipulation: In December 2020, Twitter tagged an IT Cell post by Malviya as “manipulated media” after it misrepresented a farmers’ protest incident — marking unprecedented platform pushback Wikipedia.
- False Voting Instructions: DFRLab documented viral WhatsApp messages guiding voters to “vote early” or “avoid certain booths,” undermining polling integrity ﹘ many aligned with BJP geographies DFRLab.
- Doctored Videos of Rahul Gandhi: Dozens of short clips were edited to make the opposition leader appear to contradict himself; AltNews and Scroll.in produced detailed debunks Alt NewsScroll.in.
Impact on Indian Democracy
Polarization and Public Discourse
- Hate-Factory Accusations: The Washington Post reports that BJP-linked groups have “perfected” spreading bigoted material, fueling communal divides and eroding social cohesion The Washington Post.
- Platform Incentives: India Today noted that social-media algorithms prioritize anger-driven content — a dynamic the BJP exploits by feeding polarizing narratives into high-velocity networks India Today.
Regulatory and Legal Challenges
- Press-Freedom Risks: Amnesty International warned that India’s recent IT-Rules amendments enable quick takedowns of “undesirable” content, chilling critical journalism even as the BJP’s own networks proliferate unchecked Amnesty International.
- Enforcement Gaps: Despite Election Commission advisories, digital campaigning often outpaces rule-making, leaving loopholes for cross-border funding, opaque ad buys, and untraceable message forwarding.
While digital campaigning is here to stay, the BJP’s IT Cell stands out for scale, sophistication, and strategic misinformation — posing urgent questions for India’s democratic resilience, media literacy initiatives, and regulatory frameworks. Vigilant fact-checking, platform accountability, and civic education will be crucial to ensure that tech-enabled politics serves transparency rather than tribalism.
