As candidates tirelessly navigate dusty streets to connect with voters, a select group of behind the scenes strategists have emerged as the true powerhouses of their campaigns in Maharashtra. With over 82 crore active internet users in India, social media has become a key battleground for political campaigns.
Aware of its significance, political parties across the spectrum have set up “war rooms”. These hubs are where teams work around the clock, leveraging social media and data analytics to shape grassroots strategies and ensure their candidates stay ahead in the digital race.
“Besides booth monitoring, our team creates, approves and posts content on our candidate’s official social media channels. We avoid criticising competitors, instead focusing on highlighting our achievements,” said Alpesh Kadam, BJP’s cooperative cell president for Thane city.
Working out of a local war room in Thane, Kadam leads a team of nine “super warriors”—party volunteers who manage both social media and on-ground activities in the nine prabhags (divisions) under the Thane constituency. In addition, five members are dedicated solely to managing Thane’s BJP candidate’s social media accounts.
Similar war rooms exist for every BJP candidate in the state, with each constituency hosting a dedicated team. “We have a strong social media team at the state level, but each candidate also has their own war room, run with local party support. Content is posted directly to candidates’ handles, always aligned with party principles,” a BJP spokesperson said.
The social media wing at the state level monitors media portals, tracks opposition content, and revisits archival data, producing posters, articles, and other material for social media. Once approved by the party leadership, the content is shared across platforms.
In addition to social media, the BJP also uses robocalls, SMS and WhatsApp for its outreach. For Congress, the concept of a “war room” takes a different shape. While individual candidates have their own “media departments”, the party has established regional war rooms in areas like Western Maharashtra, Vidarbha, Marathwada, and Mumbai.
Earlier this year, Congress brought in former MLA Vamshi Reddy who set up war rooms in key metro cities. These work closely with the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, Mumbai Congress Committee, and AICC. Each war room is staffed with 15-20 people, including a research team.
“Our war rooms track macro issues across the state, gather data, and create content for social media. For example, we quickly shared content when our manifesto was released,” said Nadeem Nusrath, General Secretary of Mumbai Congress. “Our goal is to deliver the message swiftly and counter false narratives by sticking to facts.” After the elections, Congress plans to dissolve these war rooms and redirect teams to new assignments.
Meanwhile, the NCP(SP) has set up nearly 86 war rooms across Maharashtra, each dedicated to the constituencies their candidates are contesting. The central war room, based in Mumbai, coordinates with these regional teams.
“These war rooms work around the clock, monitoring issues statewide and ensuring maximum reach via social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter),” said Clyde Crasto, national spokesperson for NCP(SP). “If there’s a rally, we live stream speeches to connect directly with the public.”
Shiv Sena also maintains a dedicated war room that creates content for social media. To decentralise, most candidates have their own individual channels as well. In addition to party workers, the Sena enlists external agencies for technical tasks.
“Our war room’s main goal is to highlight our development initiatives and welfare schemes, using clips from the CM’s speeches,” a Shiv Sena source said.