BJP leads digital political ad spends as Maharashtra civic polls near

Political parties contesting Maharashtra’s civic elections have sharply increased spending on digital advertising, with online platforms playing a central role in voter outreach across urban areas.

Disclosures from Meta’s Ad Library and Google’s political advertising transparency reports show that between mid-December 2025 and early January 2026, political parties and affiliated advertisers spent more than 50 crore on Facebook, Instagram, Google Search and YouTube to reach voters in the state.

Civic elections are being held across 29 municipal corporations, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. The Election Commission of India announced the poll schedule on December 15, 2025. Voting is set for January 15, with results to be declared on January 16. Based on current average daily spending, digital ad outlays could rise by another Rs 15-20 crore between January 11 and January 14 if the pace continues.

Google platforms

On Google platforms, including Search and YouTube, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and advertisers aligned with it accounted for the largest share of spending.

According to Google ads reports, the BJP spent Rs 1.22 crore between December 15, 2025, and January 11, 2026. Together, BJP and BJP-aligned spending on Google platforms in Maharashtra totalled about Rs 11.1 crore.

Among BJP allies, the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction), spent Rs 1.53 crore, while the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction), spent Rs 1.37 crore.

In comparison, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction) ads amounted to Rs 2.46 crore.

Overall, political advertising linked to the Maharashtra civic polls on Google platforms reached about Rs 17 crore in less than a month.

Meta platforms

On Meta-owned platforms Facebook and Instagram, the BJP’s Maharashtra unit dominated early spending between December 10, 2025, and January 8, 2026.

As per the media reports, the BJP in Maharashtra spent Rs 36.15 crore during the period. A BJP-linked page, DevGatha, which promoted Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, spent Rs 12.98 lakh, while BJP Mumbai spent Rs 2.55 lakh.

Combined, BJP-linked spending on Meta platforms in Maharashtra stood at about Rs 37.7 crore. The Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) accounted for spending of Rs 3.1 lakh over the same period.

Taken together, Meta and Google ad reports show total reported digital advertising spending related to Maharashtra’s local body elections has reached over Rs 50 crore so far.

The rise in digital spending has renewed scrutiny of proxy advertisers and sponsorship disclosures, with analysts noting that third-party agencies and thematic pages can complicate accountability despite existing transparency requirements.

AI-driven campaigns

The 2026 local elections are also marked by wider use of AI-based content tools. Political parties and independent candidates are using hyper-local videos, sometimes produced for under Rs 1,000, instead of earlier budgets of about Rs 25,000. The videos are tailored by language, ward and demographic group and designed for mobile viewing and sharing on platforms such as WhatsApp and Instagram.

The rise in digital spending has also increased scrutiny of proxy advertisers and unclear sponsorship disclosures. Third-party agencies tend to boost reach while skipping the accountability queue despite transparency measures introduced by Meta and Google.