As India prepares for the Assembly elections in five states, including the all-crucial Uttar Pradesh, Meta-owned WhatsApp is being heavily misused by various political parties as well as individual candidates to woo millions of voters via the automated bulk messaging route. IT cells of various political parties have already prepared lakhs of WhatsApp groups and broadcast lists to reach the smartphones of more than 10-12 crore voters with targeted political messaging.

Uttar Pradesh has 15.02 crore registered voters and experts assume that at least 10-12 crore of them own a smartphone with WhatsApp installed. WhatsApp, with voice calling over the internet, is also available for KaiOS-based smart feature phone users. According to Anoop Mishra, one of the leading social media experts in the country, through the bulk WhatsApp API (application programming interface) tools, parties and candidates now avoid the hassle of forming new WhatsApp groups and broadcast lists.