The Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and the Trivedi Centre for Political Data (TCPD), Ashoka University invite you to a virtual panel discussion on: Political Consultants and Datafication of India’s Election Campaigns
This is the third discussion as part of a series on the upcoming state elections in 2022.
Watch the first discussion here, and the second discussion here.
Since 2014, there has been a meteoric rise of political consultants, both numerically as well as in their significance. This marks a shift in the nature of political campaigns in India which have become increasingly professionalised and datafied. In part, it has to do with the changing contours of political communication and the penetration of social media, while others are a result of political parties outsourcing their campaign strategies. In such a setting, professional consultants and their methods have become a key tool for political mobilisation. This has also led to greater spread of misinformation via the internet (especially social media platforms) and attempts to influence voting behaviour through targeted political ads beyond our imagination. The panel will take a broad view on these changes shaping election campaigns and their implications for Indian democracy.
About the Series
The CPR-TCPD Dialogues on Indian Politics brings together academicians, policy and political practitioners, and civil society actors to grapple with important social and political issues in India. It provides a forum for intellectually rigorous, non-partisan commentary to strengthen public discourse on politics in India. This dialogue series is an effort to understand the changing dynamics of Indian political parties, the impact of new and emerging social movements and the use of new instruments of mobilisation in our polity.
The CPR-TCPD Dialogues is curated by the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and the Trivedi Centre for Political Data (TCPD) at Ashoka University. Founded in 1973, CPR is one of India’s leading think tanks, providing rigorous policy research on a variety of issues. Founded in 2015, TCPD is among India’s most well-respected institutions working with political data, providing data-driven research, policy work and journalism on India’s political life by producing and disseminating in open access scientifically collected and treated political data. The CPR-TCPD Dialogues leverages the unique strengths of these two institutions to provide rigorous and innovative commentary on India’s social and political challenges.
