BJP tops political ad spend on Facebook India

The ruling BJP was the largest advertiser on Facebook in India on “social issues, elections and politics” over the last 18 months, spending over Rs 4.61 crore since February 2019, followed by the main Opposition Congress party with Rs 1.84 crore, according to data available until August 24 on the social media giant’s spending tracker.

Among the top 10 spenders in this category are four other advertisers who are linked to the BJP, including three that share the same address in Delhi as the ruling party’s national headquarters, according to the tracker.

These four include two community pages, ‘My First Vote for Modi’ (Rs 1.39 crore) and ‘Bharat Ke Mann Ki Baat’ (Rs 2.24 crore); Nation With Namo, which is categorised as a news and media website (Rs 1.28 crore); and, a page (Rs 0.65 crore) affiliated to BJP leader and former MP R K Sinha, who owns Security and Intelligence Services (SIS).