An Enquiry into the Election Narratives and Strategic Placement of Narratives for Persuasion: A Case Study of Indian General Election

General elections in India have served as a core of democratic engagement in the post-independence political history. Unlike the previous elections, the Lok Sabha elections of 2019 witnessed competing election narratives throughout the campaign by the ruling political party and the opposition parties. The political leaders were pitching heavy on narratives, and the narrative construction kept on shifting during the campaign in different states. Generally, in election campaign speeches, speakers usually use rhetoric to persuade voters. This paper concentrates on the political narratives that were highlighted during the campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in India. Persuasion levels of communication in each narrative (subject) of the three selected political leaders who were the main campaigners in the elections and belonged to three major political parties were examined. Through a content analysis, identification of narratives of the campaign were achieved and the levels of persuasion elements of the narratives was measured through an opinion survey.

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