Social media becomes a key battleground for the 2019 Lok Sabha election

Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election, political parties and leaders were increasingly using social media to promote themselves and take on rivals, turning platforms such as Facebook into a central part of the campaign.

Voters online

The 2014 election had 83.40 crore voters, and the electorate in 2019 was expected to be around 90 crore. The BJP was reported to be concentrating on about 8 crore first-time voters, while the Congress was focusing on 11 crore 70 lakh people voting for the second time.

Facebook had 21.7 crore monthly users in India according to 2017 reports, a figure expected to reach 29.4 crore in 2019. That would mean roughly one in three voters was active on the platform, many of them first- or second-time voters. Facebook had also introduced a tool, CrowdTangle Public Live Display, that lets users follow posts from political leaders and parties.

Parties: AAP posts most, BJP engages most

Over a 30-day period, AAP’s official page posted 697 times, or at least 23 posts a day. The BJP was second with 365 posts and the Congress third with 297. However, the BJP led clearly on page likes and interactions.

Rajya Sabha members

Among Rajya Sabha members, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan posted most in the same period, with 506 posts, about 17 a day. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal was second with 282. R.K. Sinha posted less but drew more likes than both.

Lok Sabha members

In the Lok Sabha group, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi led with 475 posts, around 16 a day. Congress leader Raghu Sharma posted 215 times, ahead of Rahul Gandhi’s 113, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official page shared 52 posts. On interactions, however, Modi ranked first, followed by Rahul Gandhi and Owaisi.

See also: Aam Aadmi Party, Lok Sabha members

Originally published on 1 February 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us