With the 16^th Lok Sabha elections coming up, Google announced the Google search trends observed over the last three months highlighting the key issues on the minds of the voters.

These elections are also unique because of the unprecedented interest that’s been generated online; the war for votes in being fought online as much as it’s being fought on the streets and in mainstream media.

Some of the key highlights of the search trends include the following:

Corruption remains the most searched topic on Google search trends and Jan Lokpal and issues around it remain the most searched topics based on recent consumer interest. When looking at the overall trend for corruption, the issue of Black Money is also a topic that features prominently in this list.

An interesting trend that appears is that even after almost 3 years, the Adarsh Housing Society scam continues to dominate search trends where it’s been the most searched among scams for the last 3 months.

The 2G scam is also high on that list, closely followed by the Coal Gate scam. Trends reveal that these remain high in voter’s minds. 

Riots are another issue which features prominently in the Google search trends. Voters searched with regards to the 1984 Sikh riots following the recent interview by Congress VP Rahul Gandhi. The 2002 Gujarat riots followed by the Muzzafarnagar riots in Uttar Pradesh were other tragic incidents that took the center-stage on Google search trends.

Other recent political developments that have been driving search trend results include Rahul Gandhi’s recent (and first) TV Interview while the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) recent win in Delhi shows the highest search trends.

Among government schemes for the aam-aadmi, NREGA is the most searched topic followed by the Right to Information (RTI) (under legislative issues). Food Security Bill, Land Acquisition Bill, Sexual Violence Bill, Telengana State Bill and Women Reservation Bill also showed significant online interest and therefore reflected prominently in search trend data.