How LDF outspent both BJP and Congress on social media for Kerala Assembly polls
As per the Model Code of Conduct, public funds cannot be used for an election campaign after the elections have been announced.
As per the Model Code of Conduct, public funds cannot be used for an election campaign after the elections have been announced.
As per the Model Code of Conduct, public funds cannot be used for an election campaign after the elections have been announced.
After witnessing its marketing blitz on mainstream media, it might seem a bit odd that in the last 90 days, from January 11 to the day after the elections on April 10, it was the LDF that had spent the least on social media, particularly on Facebook and Instagram.
Forget BJP Keralam, the LDF pumped in only 16 per cent of what even the Kerala unit of the Indian National Congress paid Meta, which owns both Facebook and Instagram. In this period, the Congress had spent ₹1.36 crore for sponsored ads on Facebook and Instagram. And the LDF, ₹22.77 lakh. BJP Keralam, however, topped the spending list of political parties with an ad spend of ₹1.67 crore.
This seemingly unassuming nature of the LDF's social media spending will be exposed once the leader of the spending pack is announced. It is the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) run by the LDF government. In the 90 days till April 10, KIIFB had spent ₹1.69 crore on ads extolling the LDF government, more than even BJP Keralam's ₹1.36 crore.
Together, KIIFB and LDF Keralam have paid Meta ₹1.92 crore in the run-up to the elections. The details of election expenses have been taken from the Meta Ad Library.
The problem is, KIIFB is seen to have spent ₹48 lakh for ads on Facebook and Instagram between March 12 and April 10, during the period of the campaign. Interestingly, this was more than the ₹28 lakh spent by LDF Keralam in this period.
As per the Model Code of Conduct, public funds cannot be used for election campaign after the elections have been announced.
In Kerala, the elections were announced on March 15 and some of the Facebook ads of KIIFB, which has substantial budgetary support, are seen to have run till even March 17. For instance, the sanction of ₹103.73 crore for the desilting of Pazhukkanila Lake in Kottayam. The video celebrating this 'LDF achievement' has the image of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Further, promotional videos of KIIFB projects of Assembly constituencies represented by LDF MLAs ran on Facebook till March 16. And all these had the testimonies of LDF MLAs.
This is a violation of the Model Code of Conduct, which says that advertisements highlighting the achievements of the government at the cost of public exchequer should be "immediately withdrawn from the date of announcement".
The data from Meta Ad Library also gives the lie to the Chief Minister's repeated assertions that the LDF had not engaged private brand-building agencies. "That is what the Congress does, not us," he had said.
As the Meta Ad Library reveals, the LDF campaign managers have employed two major private players. While the LDF Keralam ads like "LDF Allathe Mattarundu" (Who else but LDF) were done by Maitri Advertising, the KIIFB ads with the 'Transformer'-like super being were created by Push360 headed by filmmaker V A Shrikumar.
KIIFB might have invested the most but it was BJP Kerala that has garnered the most likes. While KIIFB had 2.4 lakh likes in the last 90 days, BJP Kerala page attracted 12 lakh likes.