Mercenaries for elections? How Indian political consultants are impacting US midterm polls
The activity in the US is part of a wider trend, with Indian political consultants reportedly running shadow campaigns in countries across South America, Africa, Australia, Germany and India’s neighbouring countries, including Nepal and Sri Lanka.
- Nov 3, 2026,
- Updated Nov 3, 2026 1:22 PM IST
Indian political consultants are reportedly using social media accounts and shadow campaigns to influence the United States midterm elections, with researchers identifying coordinated online activity backing specific candidates.
US Democratic politician Haley Stevens, who lost the August 4 Senate primary in Michigan to Abdul El-Sayed, the party’s candidate for the midterm election, had videos circulating in her support. Researchers from the anonymous disinformation-monitoring group Antibot4Navalny identified at least 28 accounts on X sharing videos in support of Stevens, generating more than 7 million views. At least 15 of the accounts were posting from India, according to an Al Jazeera report.
“We are manipulating elections; there is no other way to say it,” said New Delhi-based political consultant, Tushar Giri, adding that the concept of electoral democracy is overrated. "There is no free will for voters. Everything is manipulated,” he said.
Researchers at Clemson University’s Media Forensic Hub also identified similar tactics involving Indian accounts and pages operating for hire.
The activity in the US is part of a wider trend, with Indian political consultants reportedly running shadow campaigns in countries across South America, Africa, Australia, Germany and India’s neighbouring countries, including Nepal and Sri Lanka. Nearly a dozen consultants told the news site that such campaigns operate with few limits or safeguards.
Political consultancies advise candidates and parties on winning public support. The growth of social media has expanded their operations, allowing campaigns to use targeted advertising on platforms such as Meta and Google to reach large numbers of voters. Shadow campaigns can involve taking over established pages, creating new ones, rebranding existing accounts or hiring pages to distribute content considered too controversial for official campaign channels.
DON'T MISS | 'Oil prices DROPPING LIKE A ROCK,' says Donald Trump ahead of critical US midterms
One content creator told the news site that if there is a woman politician, they simply "link her to someone to damage her reputation". He said it is one of the easiest ways to discredit.
An Al Jazeera investigation ahead of India’s 2024 national election found a network of shadow pages on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube available for sale, bypassing platform policies governing political advertising.
Meta prohibits the sale or exchange of accounts and the use of false or stolen identities. Meta and Google generally require political advertisers to verify their identities and disclose who paid for advertisements, although rules vary by country. Consultants said such requirements are routinely circumvented, including through virtual private networks and changes to accounts’ country of origin.
These practices now make for the backbone of any Indian political campaign, the report added. Giri said they have proven record of "delivering desired results". He said companies such as Meta and Google have long pages of complicated rules but once one reads through, they will find several loopholes to exploit.
Several of these consultancies also rely on hawala networks, as per the report. One consultant even called black money the "pillar of political consultation".
The practices recall the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which the British political consulting firm was accused of improperly obtaining personal data from millions of Facebook users. The company used information gathered through a third-party app, developed by researcher Aleksandr Kogan, to build psychological profiles of voters and tailor campaign messages.
DON'T MISS | US Midterm Elections 2026: Why November 3 vote could reshape Trump's presidency
The app collected information not only from users who signed in, but also from their Facebook friends. The data included education, location, relationship status, employment and pages they liked. Cambridge Analytica was suspended from Facebook after the disclosures, while US state attorneys general launched investigations.
The firm worked first with Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign during the Republican primaries, dividing voters into psychological profiles and tailoring messages accordingly. It later became associated with Donald Trump’s general election campaign.
Indian political consultants are reportedly using social media accounts and shadow campaigns to influence the United States midterm elections, with researchers identifying coordinated online activity backing specific candidates.
US Democratic politician Haley Stevens, who lost the August 4 Senate primary in Michigan to Abdul El-Sayed, the party’s candidate for the midterm election, had videos circulating in her support. Researchers from the anonymous disinformation-monitoring group Antibot4Navalny identified at least 28 accounts on X sharing videos in support of Stevens, generating more than 7 million views. At least 15 of the accounts were posting from India, according to an Al Jazeera report.
“We are manipulating elections; there is no other way to say it,” said New Delhi-based political consultant, Tushar Giri, adding that the concept of electoral democracy is overrated. "There is no free will for voters. Everything is manipulated,” he said.
Researchers at Clemson University’s Media Forensic Hub also identified similar tactics involving Indian accounts and pages operating for hire.
The activity in the US is part of a wider trend, with Indian political consultants reportedly running shadow campaigns in countries across South America, Africa, Australia, Germany and India’s neighbouring countries, including Nepal and Sri Lanka. Nearly a dozen consultants told the news site that such campaigns operate with few limits or safeguards.
Political consultancies advise candidates and parties on winning public support. The growth of social media has expanded their operations, allowing campaigns to use targeted advertising on platforms such as Meta and Google to reach large numbers of voters. Shadow campaigns can involve taking over established pages, creating new ones, rebranding existing accounts or hiring pages to distribute content considered too controversial for official campaign channels.
DON'T MISS | 'Oil prices DROPPING LIKE A ROCK,' says Donald Trump ahead of critical US midterms
One content creator told the news site that if there is a woman politician, they simply "link her to someone to damage her reputation". He said it is one of the easiest ways to discredit.
An Al Jazeera investigation ahead of India’s 2024 national election found a network of shadow pages on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube available for sale, bypassing platform policies governing political advertising.
Meta prohibits the sale or exchange of accounts and the use of false or stolen identities. Meta and Google generally require political advertisers to verify their identities and disclose who paid for advertisements, although rules vary by country. Consultants said such requirements are routinely circumvented, including through virtual private networks and changes to accounts’ country of origin.
These practices now make for the backbone of any Indian political campaign, the report added. Giri said they have proven record of "delivering desired results". He said companies such as Meta and Google have long pages of complicated rules but once one reads through, they will find several loopholes to exploit.
Several of these consultancies also rely on hawala networks, as per the report. One consultant even called black money the "pillar of political consultation".
The practices recall the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which the British political consulting firm was accused of improperly obtaining personal data from millions of Facebook users. The company used information gathered through a third-party app, developed by researcher Aleksandr Kogan, to build psychological profiles of voters and tailor campaign messages.
DON'T MISS | US Midterm Elections 2026: Why November 3 vote could reshape Trump's presidency
The app collected information not only from users who signed in, but also from their Facebook friends. The data included education, location, relationship status, employment and pages they liked. Cambridge Analytica was suspended from Facebook after the disclosures, while US state attorneys general launched investigations.
The firm worked first with Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign during the Republican primaries, dividing voters into psychological profiles and tailoring messages accordingly. It later became associated with Donald Trump’s general election campaign.