BJP was the biggest advertiser on Facebook in India on “social issues, elections, and politics” during the past 18 months. The party reportedly spent over Rs 4.61 crore since February 2019, succeeded by the main Opposition Congress party with Rs 1.84 crore, as per the recent data available until August 24 on the social media giant’s spending tracker.
According to the tracker, among the top 10 spenders in this category are four other advertisers linked to the BJP, including three that share the same address in Delhi as the ruling party’s national headquarters.
These four include two community pages, ‘My First Vote for Modi’ at Rs 1.39 crore and ‘Bharat Ke Mann Ki Baat’ at Rs 2.24 crore). Nation With Namo, categorized as a news and media website, was listed with Rs 1.28 crore spending. A page (Rs 0.65 crore) affiliated to BJP leader and former MP R K Sinha, who owns Security and Intelligence Services (SIS) was also listed among the top spenders.
Collectively, BJP has its ad spend as a total of Rs 10.17 crore, which is approximately 64 percent of the total advertising (Rs 15.81 crore) by the top ten in this category. This time period through which the report is covered, includes the general elections in April-May 2019, which saw BJP’s triumphant victory after the party returned to power with an overwhelming majority.
The other primary political entity among the top ten in this category is the Aam Aadmi Party, with a spend of Rs 69 lakh.
According to the data, Facebook India’s complete ad spend under this category after February 2019 was Rs 59.65 crore. The ads were not limited to the website and app. They were spread across Facebook’s other applications, including Instagram, Audience Network, and Messenger.
