Something new has entered Assam's election campaign this cycle — and it is not a rally or a roadshow. For the first time, the battle for votes in the Assam Assembly elections is being fought as intensely on social media as it is on the ground, with artificial intelligence emerging as a weapon of choice for political disinformation.
Analysts and observers say both the ruling BJP and opposition Congress have been deploying AI-driven tools to craft narratives, generate fake images, and push propaganda through social media platforms — a development that marks a sharp departure from previous election campaigns in the state.
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"Both the opposition and ruling parties have been engaging in a propaganda war using AI-driven tools to create false narratives. As if the war of words between the opposition and ruling camps was not enough, they are now creating fake images through AI tools and creating narratives," said a social media expert tracking the campaign.
The observation comes amid a high-profile dispute between the BJP and Congress over allegedly fabricated passport documents — a row in which both sides have accused the other of using AI to generate or manipulate images. The controversy has placed AI-generated content at the very centre of Assam's election discourse.
The use of AI for political propaganda is not new globally. Experts point to its use in international conflicts and elections worldwide as evidence of how quickly the technology has been weaponised for information warfare.
But Assam's elections have, until now, remained relatively insulated from the phenomenon. The 2026 cycle appears to have changed that.
"We have seen some of the leaders use AI-driven tools to claim so many things in the election campaigns. This time, the campaigns are as much on social media as on the ground," said Anand Sharma, a student of Dibrugarh University who has been following the campaign closely.
Political analyst Rupak Bhattacharjee, a keen observer of Assam's electoral politics, did not mince words about the risks involved.
"Use of Artificial Intelligence to spread misinformation, fake news, and false narratives is a dangerous thing and can hurt the integrity of election campaigns," Bhattacharjee warned.
The concern is not just about individual incidents of fakery — it is about what happens to public trust in information when AI makes it impossible to distinguish the real from the fabricated, particularly in the compressed and high-stakes environment of an election campaign.
With polling set for April 9 and the Silent Period already in effect, the damage — or otherwise — of Assam's first truly AI-influenced election campaign may already be done.