Over the last few elections, the stories of political campaigns have been told through song and video. This year, things got even more elaborate.

With assembly elections taking place in Uttarakhand, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur and Punjab, multimedia campaigns are an integral election tool, especially with Covid restrictions still in place and an audience that is increasingly smartphone-savvy. From memes to popular songs used for party propaganda – we’ve seen it all.

But in this departure from politics to mass entertainment, how effectively have political parties been able to use audio and visual elements to communicate their messages to voters? Newslaundry analysed some of these digital campaigns and spoke to visual communication experts to understand how successful the parties have been, and what this means for the future election campaigning in India.