KIIFB spends Rs 1.67 crore on Meta ads, tops political advertisers in Kerala polls 2026
For the full 90-day period, the official page of BJP Keralam was the second highest spender with Rs 1.44 crore.
By - Dheeshma Puzhakkal
Hyderabad: A government agency, not a political party, was the biggest advertiser on Meta platforms in Kerala in the run-up to the Assembly elections.
Highest among the top 10 advertisers
Data from Meta’s Ad Library shows that the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) spent Rs 1.67 crore on political and election-related advertisements between January 7 and April 6—the highest among the top 10 advertisers tracked in this period.
In total, about Rs 8.14 crore was spent on political ads in Kerala during these 90 days. This analysis is based on the top 10 spenders. Other official party pages and supporter-run pages may also have run ads beyond this list.
What is KIIFB?
Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board, a government-backed agency set up in 1999 to finance infrastructure projects such as schools, hospitals and transport systems, ran ads highlighting development works undertaken by the LDF government.
These ads were published through PUSH 360 LLP and continued until March 17, shortly after the Model Code of Conduct came into force.
Spending surges before polling; BJP Keralam top spender
Spending intensified closer to polling. Between March 8 and April 6, about Rs 6.15 crore was spent on political ads in Kerala, the highest among poll-bound regions.
In these 30 days, BJP Keralam was the top spender with Rs 1.35 crore, followed by the Congress page at about Rs 1.02 crore. KIIFB spent about ₹51 lakh during the same period.
BJP, Congress lead among party pages
For the full 90-day period, the official page of BJP Keralam was the second highest spender with Rs 1.44 crore. Another BJP-aligned page, Modippada, spent about Rs 15 lakh.
The Indian National Congress Kerala page ranked third with Rs 1.03 crore.
LDF-linked pages form a major share of top spenders
Most of the remaining top spenders were pages aligned with the ruling LDF.
‘Number One Kerala’ spent about Rs 25 lakh, followed by Kottarakkara Connect at about Rs 20 lakh. The official LDF Keralam page recorded about Rs 17 lakh. ‘Kerala Captain’ spent about Rs 14 lakh and ‘Palakkad Peruma’ about Rs 13 lakh.
Another LDF-linked page run by Maitri Advertising Works Pvt. Ltd. spent about Rs 12 lakh.
Several of these pages were operated by Neo Digital Group. In the last 30 days alone, pro-LDF pages together accounted for about Rs 1.43 crore among the top 10 spenders.
KIIFB’s ad push during the election period has also drawn criticism. The agency spent over Rs 50 lakh in about 10 days between March 8 and 18. In February, former opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala alleged that funds raised through masala bonds were being used for election-related publicity.
Ads run till eve of polling, BJP leads on Google
Ad activity continued close to polling day.
According to Meta’s Ad Library, the official BJP page ran ads until April 8, the day before voting. The page Palakkad Peruma ran ads until April 9.
One such ad related to allegations against BJP candidate Shobha Surendran in Palakkad began on April 8 and ran for about 22 hours.
On Google Ads, BJP led by a wide margin, spending about Rs 8.4 crore in Kerala, compared to about Rs 3.9 crore by BMEG Private Limited, which manages Congress campaigns. However, many BJP ads run in Kerala were linked to the West Bengal elections scheduled later in April.
Between March 8 and April 9, the BJP spent about Rs 4.1 crore on Google ads in Kerala, followed by Congress at about Rs 3.9 crore.
The data shows that while official party pages remain key vehicles for campaign messaging, a significant share of political advertising in Kerala is being routed through affiliated pages and, in the case of KIIFB, even through a government-backed institution.
