the party and attack whoever opposes it. It amplifies the BJP narrative through repeated messaging and silences opposition by falsifying images and videos and deploying abuse and hate to create an environment of intimidation. Rathore, the head of the UP-BJP’s IT Cell, emphasized the goal of embedding the party’s message in voter’ minds through ‘spamming’, i.e., relentless messaging. Rathore justified the tactic by saying that: “It’s difficult to embed an idea into someone’s conscious mind. It is easier to feed agendas into an unconscious one.”170 The campaign‘s strategy tailored messages to resonate with local dialects and cultural and social linguistic nuances. IT cells combine online and offline techniques for data collection, led by key figures like Sunil Bansal, an Indian politician from Rajasthan who was the General Secretary in Uttar Pradesh and has been in charge of the mega-outreach campaign celebrating Modi’s nine years of power.171 A key element of the Hindutva propaganda machine, alongside its IT cells, is its ability to create near-mythical online figures who spread hate in service of the BJP, like the ‘Astra’ persona. Astra is an online anonymous account-turned-network that became prominent and slowly developed into a large BJP propaganda vehicle. Astra translates to weapon, and by 2023, Astra had become highly influential in Karnataka and beyond, contributing to the lead-up to the 2023 state elections. The page spread divisive and polarizing content and relied on inflammatory rhetoric through WhatsApp groups and networks. Astra incited such intense influence that BJP leaders feared being accused by him of being too moderate towards Muslims.172 The influential narrative of ‘love jihad’, first coined by the militant Hindu nationalist group Hindu Janagaruti Samiti (HJS) in 2007, emerged as they began policing interfaith couples in Kerala and Karnataka. It is a debunked conspiracy theory – claiming that Muslim men are persuading Hindu women into marriage as part of an effort to forcibly convert them – that Hindu nationalist groups and BJP leaders have weaponized 170 Newslaundry. (2017). How BJP’s IT cell waged war and won in UP. https://www.newslaundry.com/2017/03/17/ how-bjps-it-cell-waged-war-and-won-in-up 171 ThePrint. (2023). Ahead of 2024 LS Polls, Why BJP Has Picked Sunil Bansal to Be Its Point Person in UP Once Again. ThePrint, 22 May. https://theprint.in/politics/ahead-of-2024-ls-polls-why-bjp-has-picked-sunil-bansal-to-be-its-pointperson-in-up-once-again/1597507/ 172 he Washington Post. (2023). How Hindu Nationalists Are Weaponizing Social Media to Spread Hate. The Washington Post, 26 September. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/09/26/hindu-nationalist-social-media-hate-campaign/ 50