Indian shadow accounts drove 7 million views for losing Michigan primary candidate
Research links 28 X accounts to Haley Stevens' campaign, with at least 15 operating from India.
By Ana Castro ·
Indian political consultancies have become a global force in shaping elections through covert digital operations. On Tuesday, the United States held its midterm elections. Researchers found that Indian-based social media accounts heavily promoted a losing candidate in the recent Michigan Senate primary.
The New York Times first identified videos supporting Democrat Haley Stevens ahead of the August 4 primary. Stevens lost that race to Abdul El-Sayed, the party's nominee for the November election. The New York Times reported that these posts appeared on shadow accounts designed to look independent while pushing a specific narrative.
Antibot4Navalny, an anonymous group of disinformation researchers, counted at least 28 such accounts on X sharing videos for Stevens. These posts accumulated more than seven million views. An Al Jazeera review found that at least 15 of the accounts posted from India. Researchers at Clemson University's Media Forensic Hub also detected similar tactics in the campaign's online activity.
Tushar Giri, a political consultant in New Delhi, admitted to the manipulative nature of the industry. He stated, “We are manipulating elections; there is no other way to say it.” Giri noted that many politicians view the concept of electoral democracy as overrated. He claimed that voter free will is often replaced by coordinated manipulation.
Rajan Kumar, a 22-year-old content creator in Ahmedabad, worked for William Ruto's 2022 Kenyan presidential campaign. He was paid $7 a day to produce 50 social media posts. Kumar described editing opposing leaders' speeches to twist their meanings. He also created posters with false claims to boost Ruto's image. Ruto won the election and became Kenya's fifth president.
Consultants use tools like premium VPNs to bypass platform rules on political advertising. Meta and Google require advertisers to verify identities, but consultants say loopholes exist. They often change an account's country of origin to run targeted ads. One consultant described carrying a specific banknote to a market in Old Delhi to collect millions in cash for a campaign.
The work involves hiding digital footprints. Kumar said chats are deleted and SIM cards are destroyed frequently. Two Indian consultants working for Ruto's campaign went missing in Nairobi in July 2022. They were found dead in October. In August 2026, Kenya's High Court terminated murder charges against fifteen officers after the prosecution requested it.
Amogh Dhar Sharma, an author who studied Indian political consultancies, said these firms create hidden sources of power. He compared the sector to India's growth in business process outsourcing. He argued that physical distance between consultants and campaigns provides plausible deniability. Giri stated that agencies are rewarded for executing tricks that exceed a political party's own imagination.
