With the 2026 Tamil Nadu assembly elections approaching, political leaders in the state are already locked in a digital race to win over the youth vote.
Published Sep 15, 2025 | 9:00 AM ⚊ Updated Sep 15, 2025 | 9:00 AM
In India, nearly 65 percent of the population is under the age of 35. Across the last three Lok Sabha elections and several state assembly polls, these voters have been the key target audience for all parties.
Synopsis: Tamil Nadu politics has undergone a drastic change over the past decade, with social media dominating political parties’ campaign strategies. Parties across the spectrum have moved away from tired rhetoric and fiery speeches, instead adopting the language of the youth. Now, with the advent of generative AI tools, experts warn that misinformation and manipulation could become decisive factors in the 2026 Assembly elections.
In a post on X recently, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin shared a video featuring a state government school student chosen to pursue higher education in Taiwan. His caption simply read: “You go, girl!”
Though it raised eyebrows, for those who have been following Stalin’s social media activity since he assumed office, it was hardly surprising. His posts have often featured a liberal use of emojis and the lexicon of younger generations.
Political leaders in India have traditionally been associated with layered rhetoric, ideological statements and lofty language that often alienated ordinary people.
Since the 2014 general elections, however, PR agencies, political strategists and digital media experts have shunned that in favour of a then relatively new but powerful tool: social media.
One reason was the changing voter base. Older voters who once determined election outcomes are increasingly being replaced by younger generations, who are constantly online and more tech-savvy than ever.
In India, nearly 65 percent of the population is under the age of 35. Across the last three Lok Sabha elections and several state assembly polls, these voters have been the key target audience for all parties.
Now, with generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools becoming widely available, such tools, together with social media, have become the go-to instruments of political campaigning in the country.
In this context, the party that can effectively utilise these technologies and deploy maximum resources is likely to gain the upper hand. With the 2026 Tamil Nadu assembly elections approaching, political leaders in the state are already locked in a digital race to dominate this space.
Be it Stalin, a veteran politician and leader of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), or Vijay, a relative newcomer heading the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), politicians in Tamil Nadu are increasingly tailoring both their social media posts and stage speeches to appeal directly to the youth.
“The emojis or casual words used on Stalin’s Twitter page may appear frivolous to some. But in reality, these are carefully chosen. They reflect the language young people use,” says a senior aide to a prominent leader in the ruling party.
“The goal is simple: more engagement. That’s the strategy.”
Beyond online posts, political leaders have begun experimenting with new formats of youth outreach. Instead of traditional roadside rallies with grand stages, they organise curated events in luxury hotels or auditoriums. Young professionals and college students are invited to interact with leaders in informal settings.
In some cases, strategists even coordinate with colleges to host special events where political leaders appear as chief guests, subtly building rapport with students.
“Today’s voters are largely apolitical. Years of fiery speeches and ideological sloganeering haven’t moved them. Many don’t even know who these leaders are,” says a lead member of a senior woman leader’s team.
“But if you’re an actor or a celebrity, they will accept you instantly. So parties are forced to create these engagement strategies. Personally, I think it’s foolish.”
Muralikrishnan Chinnadurai, Director of MediaCorp OPC Pvt Ltd, tells South First that parties now run dedicated campaigns aimed at the youth, seeking to craft an image of being “one among the youth.”
“Regardless of party lines, all political players see engagement on social media. But the real question is: which age group are you reaching? Most of the time, parties are targeting first-time voters or those under 25. That’s why platforms like Instagram and Facebook are where they intensify their activities,” he explains.
“Political leaders now consciously use emojis, quirky phrases and stylistic markers of Gen Z language. Why? Because the youth’s world and its language have diverged sharply from older traditions. By speaking in their language, parties create a sense of connection: we speak like you. On a platform of entertainment, even serious political content manages to grab attention this way.”
Platforms such as Facebook and Instagram provide granular analytics about user engagement: how many people saw a post, how many interacted with it and in what ways. This has given political parties a level of control and insight over their campaigns like never before.
With trending hashtags, live analytics and real-time feedback, parties have jumped headlong into this ecosystem. But with it has come a darker side.
“Alongside genuine outreach, emotional manipulation is now rampant,” Muralikrishnan explains.
“For example, in the last election, Tamil versions of Prime Minister Modi’s songs went viral. Many saw them as humorous, but the truth is once such content flows through social media, it reaches everyone – whether as comedy or something serious. In the end, it’s shared. And for political parties, any publicity is publicity.”
Social media influencers, too, often embrace negative portrayals for more views and revenue. Political parties, while not driven by revenue, use the same logic to push their messaging and faces across platforms.
This has led to the creation of “troll armies”: dedicated cells of social media users and bots used to amplify a party’s messaging, whether through positive content about themselves or negative campaigns against rivals.
In such a system, the party with bigger resources inevitably has greater influence. In India, says Muralikrishnan, that is undoubtedly the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
In the last few years, social media campaigning has changed considerably. It is no longer only about targeted ad spending or troll armies. Generative AI has added a whole new dimension.
Lately, deepfakes—a slang term used to describe multimedia such as photos, audio and videos generated or morphed with neural network-based AI tools—have enabled manipulation like never before.
Such tools have advanced so rapidly in the last 18 months that it is hard for an ordinary viewer to distinguish synthetic content from reality.
What is more, with their deep pockets, political parties can afford advanced tools that cost thousands of rupees, often producing results of better quality than what is available for free.
“In upcoming elections, this will be a major threat,” warns Muralikrishnan. “Parties with more resources can easily flood the public sphere with fake news and deepfake content. The only way a rival party can counter this is by investing in advanced fact-checking technology with high computing facilities.”
With Tamil Nadu just months from the 2026 assembly elections, this raises some important questions: if a complaint arises during elections, does the Election Commission have the expertise, personnel and tools to handle it? Currently, says Muralikrishnan, the answer is no.
Then what chance does an average voter have?
“At the end of the day, the question is simple – do you, as a voter, have the ability to tell whether the video you are watching is real or fake? That will determine the future.”
According to Union government data, 85 percent of Indian households have at least one smartphone, with Tamil Nadu leading the trend.
Social media is now used not only by political parties but also by caste organisations, corporations and influencers, each tailoring the medium to their interests.
In such a landscape, if even half of this smartphone-using population believes in deepfake-driven propaganda, it could decisively alter the outcome of Indian elections.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
