The Use of Religion Online by Indian Political Entities During the 2024 Lok Sabha Election: Religiopolitical Propaganda on Social Media?

Abstract

The intersection of politics and religion in India has gained significant scholarly attention, particularly since the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) rise to power in 2014. The increasing impact of social media on Indian politics has intensified this concern. However, it is yet to be fully explored how social media was used for religiopolitical purposes during the Indian election in 2024. We computationally analyzed 3082 Facebook posts using BERTopic, word embedding, and cluster analysis to understand how politicians, political candidates, political organizations, and political parties intertwined religion and politics during the 2024 Lok Sabha election. We identified the presence of religiopolitical propaganda, primarily aimed at reviving and recreating Hindu nationalist history and targeting religious minorities, mainly Muslims. The major topics of the posts included ideological legacy, political landscape, party and leadership, celebrations, crime and justice, local politics and governance, politicized demographic trends, public engagements, spiritual and philosophical themes, and the misrepresented reservation issue. The interconnectedness of these issues suggests that the BJP and its allies concentrated on religious matters, from Hindu–Muslim debates to reservations for Muslims and the inauguration of Hindu temples. Data from non-political entities, such as influencers, as well as cross-platform analysis from Twitter and YouTube, can extend and enrich these insights.