Journal of Discourse Review
Open Access Humanitarian scholarship
7 days
Time to first decision
Open Access Humanitarian scholarship
Time to first decision
Volume: 1 Issue: 2
Year: 2025, Page: 179-190,
Received: June 18, 2025 Accepted: June 26, 2025 Published: July 22, 2025
The changing role of political consulting in India is examined in this article as a type of infrastructure power that combines algorithmic accuracy with affective and cultural modulation. Today's political consultants operate as epistemic engineers, going beyond conventional models of electoral strategy to create segmented publics through symbolic labour, data-driven targeting, and emotional calibration. The article examines how consultants use platform-specific narratives to fragment deliberative space and shape political subjectivities, drawing on interdisciplinary frameworks such as affect theory, surveillance capitalism, and media hybridity. Caste, geography, language, and emotion are operationalised to create affective atmospheres rather than logical consensus, as demonstrated by case studies ranging from the BJP's psychographic personalisation and use of mythic symbolism to the AAP's hybrid model combining grassroots mobilisation with algorithmic reach. The study also looks at how digital platforms like YouTube and WhatsApp incorporate political messaging into popular cultural rhythms, generating feedback loops that strengthen political alignment through individualised emotional resonance. The paper urges ethical frameworks focused on algorithmic accountability, inclusive political communication, and emotional transparency in response to this post-rhetorical shift in persuasion. It comes to the conclusion that political consulting in India needs to be rethought as a cultural and epistemic institution that is essential to redefining democratic life in a platformized society, rather than as a neutral service sector.
Keywords: Political consultancy, Algorithmic governance, Social media, Platform politics, Electoral communication.
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© 2025 JDR Academic Trust. This is an open-access publication distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Mukherjee, D. (2025). The Algorithmic Republic: Political Consultancy and the Crisis of Persuasion in India. Journal of Discourse Review, 1(2), 179-190.