INSIDE THE BHARAT MANDAPAM, a plush convention centre in central Delhi, constructed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s second tenure, a three thousand-seater auditorium pulsated with nationalist slogans. It was the evening of 8 March, less than two months ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Modi was seated in the front row with union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. Behind them were thousands of young people whose names ring familiar to varying degrees for a generation enthralled by the internet.
“I want you to thank your stars, be grateful, guys, that he is not a content creator,” the podcaster Raj Shamani said, as he opened the event. “If he was, all of us would have shut shop.” Shamani hailed Modi onto the stage, describing him as “the influencer of the influencers.” The prime minister stood on the stage for close to an hour, personally felicitating 23 influencers among the several present at the National Creators Awards. The event was hosted by the union government in recognition of individual content creators with a significant online presence—a state-organised function perhaps without precedent anywhere in the world.
As Modi was about to begin his speech, the crowd of content creators turned into an energetic chorus, chanting “Abki baar, 400 paar”—the Bharatiya Janata Party’s election slogan projecting a 400-seat win that would return a third term for Modi. He indulged the fanfare for several seconds before saying, “How are all of you? Let us do a little vibe check.”
Modi claimed that more than a hundred and fifty thousand content creators had participated in the awards nomination process. He sought to bill the burgeoning influencer economy as an index of the success of a ten-year “data revolution” under his tenure. “Cheap mobile phones, the Digital India scheme has created a new world of content creators,” Modi said. He made a “collab request”—in social-media parlance, a partnership with influencers to promote a product or campaign. Terming them the “MVPs of the internet”—the most valuable players—Modi asked the audience to use their “creativity” to raise awareness about women’s empowerment, mental health and drug abuse, steering clear of direct appeals to make videos in support of his government. “I know all of you die for me more than I do,” Modi told the cheering audience. He asked that they use their platforms to clear “wrong perceptions” and improve India’s image globally. To the crowd sitting there, even this tangential appeal would have been unnecessary. The content creators present that evening had worked to boost the Modi government’s image in explicit or subtle terms.