We examine Modi & Rahul's top social media posts to read their minds. They reveal interesting patterns

We examine Modi & Rahul’s top social media posts to read their minds. They reveal interesting patterns

“Is bar election ka mahaul kuch thanda hai!”

You’ve likely heard someone nearby make this remark as the juggernaut of the world’s largest poll trudged forward with a somewhat muted start on April 19 with the first phase of voting.Â

However, if you’re missing the earth-shaking rumble of election machinery, the deafening roars of charged-up rivals and the heat and dust of Indian summers, step into the colosseum of social media. Here, you’ll see the war of words raging in full swing, with sparks flying as supporters clash over topics from Ram Mandir to ED raids and electoral bonds.

With over half the Indian population online, leaders are using every tactic at their disposal to woo voters through social media, blasting away at hopeful opponents. Of course, The most intense showdown is between ardent Narendra Modi supporters and the followers of the main opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi. While the INDIA bloc may be somewhat shaky, the battle between Rahul’s “suit-boot ki sarkar” jibe and Modi’s “Abki baar, 400 paar” campaign is in full throttle.

India Today Fact Check closely examined the social media posts of Modi and Rahul Gandhi to understand their styles and strategies. We tried to spot patterns and see how these leaders engaged their followers on social media.Â

We analysed the narratives being set and, most importantly, what aspects of their personalities the supporters admire most about their role models. We checked which of their posts on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram — the three most popular platforms in India — received the most likes and shares, indicating endorsement and positive sentiment. What truly resonates with their audiences?

To make a sense of all of this, we did a deep dive into hundreds of posts from these leaders across these platforms, starting from the day the election was announced (March 16) up to the first phase of polling (April 19). We then zeroed into the top five posts on each platform that received millions of likes, shares, and reposts, to closely examine what made them so popular.

The detailed methodology and archives of the top five most-liked posts can be found at the bottom of the story.

We discovered that Modi and Rahul not only differ in the content they share — which is expected — but they also have markedly different styles, tones, and tenors. Their approaches to winning over their supporters reveal interesting patterns and underscore how these two important leaders differ in their styles.

Here is a peek into their minds through the social media lens:

MODI COUNTS ON BLESSING, RAHUL TAPS INTO PENT-UP ANGER

Picture this: Narendra Modi is sitting in his aircraft. For a second, we see him tapping his fingers on his iPad. Then the camera, starting from his feet, gently tilts up showing how he is sitting barefoot, his footwear aside. He stares at the iPad display with profound reverence, his hand clasped over his heart. He is watching the Ram Lalla idol’s “Surya Tilak” on Ram Navami. As the sun shines like a flash on the idol’s forehead in Ayodhya, Modi bows his head in respect.Â

This captivated 7.5 million viewers across various platforms, who were bowled over by the prime minister’s devotion. This is his most popular post across social media. To put that to scale, it would take a leader over a hundred big rallies to reach an audience this size.

This visual narrative planned around themes of Ayodhya, Ram Mandir, religion, and spirituality forms the cornerstone of Modi’s digital trail. It features a campaign sprinkled with imagery where he seeks blessings from spiritual leaders, party veterans, voters, and deities, projecting that he is blessed by divine light.Â

In stark contrast, Rahul Gandhi surges his campaign boat over the undercurrent of anger, disappointment, and anti-incumbency against the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been ruling the country for the last ten years.Â

He stokes people’s “suppressed fear”, appealing to them to rise and unite against the “tyrant” Modi who wants to strangulate democracy. He also warns the officials indulging in “tax terrorism” at the behest of the Modi government that there will be no place to hide the day BJP goes out of power.

His supporters love this aggressive stance. So when Rahul taunts through his most popular post across platforms, “Dara hua tanashah ek mara hua loktantra banana chahta hai,” or “A scared dictator wants to create a dead democracy”, 92,000 people give it a thumbs up.Â

The core themes running across his campaign are the ones which directly affect the common man, like inflation and unemployment. He also repeatedly harps on the alleged suppression of democracy through the “misuse of CBI and ED” by the Modi government machinery to bulldoze his opponents. Among his top-performing posts is a simple comparison of how the prices of common edible items like flour, pulses, milk and petrol have more than doubled under Modi’s rule.

CURATED AURA VERSUS RAW GRIT

It is clear that the people handling Modi’s social media footprints are extremely mindful of each and every image that goes into the public domain. From camera angles to lighting, from pulsating music to sleek editing: everything is carefully chosen and is absolutely professional grade.Â

When Modi offers flowers at the feet of Lord Ram at Ayodhya, he is placed at the bottom of the photo with the grand idol towering above him. On the top, the text in saffron reads: “How can I rest, until I complete my duty towards Lord Ram.”

But everywhere else, Modi stands tall — an imposing, larger-than-life figure. From his road show in Coimbatore to his Bhutan visit, low-angle camera shots with exquisite floral arrangements in the foreground elevate him higher. Marigold petals fly in surreal slow motion as the camera zooms into close-ups to capture the faces of the crowd choking with emotions. Modi then raises his hands, crimson sky in the background, and waves to the cheering crowd with a measured smile on his face. Over 2 million likes make it clear that his supporters like Modi’s king-size grandeur.

But the Congress scion, on the other hand, chooses to be down-to-earth, humble, and real. He tries to come across as a person whom you can relate to. Someone who can walk up to you, put his hand on your shoulder, look into your eyes, and assure you calmly, “I know you’re upset. But don’t worry, the change is coming”.

In a video that has garnered more than 3 million likes on Instagram, Rahul does not try to hide the fact that it has been a long day and he is tired, as he travels in a car well past midnight. But the candidly shot video, in which he simply asks people to go through the Congress party’s manifesto and provide feedback, has clearly touched millions of hearts.

Most of Rahul’s best-liked videos are in the same vein — shot in amateur fashion on phones, impromptu, and somewhat raw — giving him the look of a people’s leader, who jumps dividers to buy sweets in Chennai, converses with mahua-gathering tribal women in Shahdol, and walks in tandem with his supporters.Â

Modi has a penchant for dressing for the region and the occasion — light yellow silk kurta and half jacket in Ayodhya, saffron shawls over his shoulders when visiting a seer, and a white dhoti with gold and red borders, half shirt complete with a “patka” while interviewing with the Chennai-based Thanthi TV. So much so, that the interviewer begins by saying, “You look so much more Tamilian that I feel embarrassed in front of you.”

Rahul Gandhi seems to have stuck to just one look. Right from the time he walked across the nation in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, he has worn only plain white t-shirts, day after day. It is difficult to find a recent photo of Rahul Gandhi wearing anything other than a white t-shirt. It’s almost like a working uniform for him.

RAGA’s FLIGHT TO WAYANAD AND NAMO’s CHENNAI EXPRESS CHASE

It’s no secret that Rahul Gandhi’s defeat in Amethi last time, a Congress family bastion for decades, has hurt both the party and the leader. Wayanad in Kerala, which gave him a thumping victory last time, is his home turf now. It is only natural that he is nurturing not only his constituency but also trying to bolster his image as the most popular national leader from the southern states. The idea is to make up for Congress’ losses in the North by ensuring a decisive victory in the Southern states.

“Wayanad is my home, and the people of Wayanad are my family. From them, I have learned a great deal over the last five years and received an abundance of love and affection,” he wrote on Instagram to garner more than eight lakh likes.

But Modi is in no mood to allow a cakewalk to Rahul Gandhi even in the south, even though the BJP is not as strong there. He is trying his best to do away with the north Indian party tag of the BJP and increase the vote share by securing the votes from a weakened AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and the BRS in Telangana.

Modi’s southern visits were a sight to behold. Whether in Coimbatore or Chennai, his road shows are jampacked with adoring crowds, tearing up at the sight of the leader, chanting his name, showering him with unprecedented support.

“WAR RUKWA DI PAPA” TURNS INTO A POPULAR MEME — AND RAHUL MAKES MOST OF IT

Ads, if not executed well, can go horribly wrong and turn into a potent weapon in the hands of opponents. BJP learnt that the hard way recently.

The feel-good ads around the theme of “Modi Ka Parivar” (Modi’s family) which tries to highlight how Modi has brought happiness into the lives of common man, were doing exceptionally well. In fact, one such ad, which features a beaming middle-class family in an autorickshaw, was among Modi’s top posts with 2.3 million likes across social media platforms. Â

But another ad about the rescue of Indian students from Ukraine amidst the war with Russia, took such a disastrous turn, that it ended up being a popular meme “exposing the blatant lies of BJP”. The now-infamous “War rukwa di, papa” ad, still present on YouTube, is not being promoted anymore.

But it provided Rahul with a lot of ammunition to target Modi. When he shared a post, in which a woman was mocking and gesturing at the claims of “war rukwa di papa” it gathered thousands of likes and shares and ended up being his most popular post on X.Â

The woman’s retort, “Papa humein naukri kyon nahi dete? Papa Manipur ke dange kyon nahi rukwate?” (Why doesn’t Papa provide employment? Why doesn’t Papa stop the riots in Manipur?) echoes quite well with the audience Rahul and the INDIA bloc are trying to woo. Will he succeed?Â

We’ll get to know on June 4.Â

METHODOLOGY: HOW WE COLLECTED AND ANALYSED DATA FOR THIS STORY

This investigation aims not to examine Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi’s social media reach, where the former has an obvious lead, but to assess what narrative the two leaders were trying to underline through their posts. Because this study was done at a time when the poll process had already begun, we specifically tried to figure out how these leaders are different in terms of the kind of content they share on social media and how people react to them.Â

We mainly looked at the likes and reposts, two actions that broadly indicate endorsement, and what supporters look for in the two leaders.Â

We examined posts from X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram, from the day the schedule for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was announced (March 16) to the day the first phase of voting commenced (April 19). As reactions to social media posts are constantly changing, the numbers indicated in the story — as of 8 pm on April 19 when the first phase of polling ends — may change after its publication. Â

To collect data from Facebook and Instagram, we used CrowdTangle, a social listening tool. On Facebook, we only counted the number of “like” and “love” reactions, which indicate positive sentiments — not the total of all reactions to the post, which may also include negative sentiments. On Instagram, we counted the number of “likes”.Â

For X, we used the platform’s advanced search to check the number of “likes” and “reposts”. The data from all three platforms was then manually double-checked to ensure accuracy.