Indian elections: The high-tech
way By Siddharth Srivastava
NEW DELHI - Last week I got a call from Indian
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. When I answered my
cell phone, it was to a recorded message in which
Vajpayee exhorted that I vote for his party - the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - in this month's general
elections. In this recording, however, was another,
albeit unspoken, message: In keeping with India's
reputation as the hub of world technology, the current
elections will probably be the most tech-savvy in the
independent history of the country.
Perhaps the
first time that technology was used in such a large
scale to influence voters was during the Gujarat
elections in December 2002, when its principal
proponent, Gujarat's Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who
belongs to the BJP, won the elections.
It was a
blitzkrieg of know-how - from widespread use of the
Internet to mass short messaging services (SMSs) and
effective co-ordination using state-of-the art cell
phones. While BJP workers carted hundreds of mobile
phones from New Delhi to Gujarat for use, crisp chain
messages extolling Modi's virtues, as well as his
vision, were sent via SMS to voters across Gujarat as
part of the campaign. More than 25,000 BJP workers in
Gujarat were trained at using the SMS, while Modi
personally tested out their effectiveness when he
wrestled the by-election from the Rajkot-II assembly
constituency.
Modi used every tool possible to
promote his carefully constructed super hero image: from
machine-produced hoardings on the Internet, to specially
designed SMS messages. His website was regularly updated
and recorded massive traffic, with over 20,000 hits
every day, while the site's top banner flashed Modi as a
"Milestone of Dynamic India". The website's database
also was prepared in Gujarati using multilingual
software with a facility to host live chats with BJP
leaders every night.
The Congress message, on
the other hand, was as loud as loudspeakers could carry
and as staid as hand-painted posters, with party workers
sticking to old-fashioned door-to-door canvassing. The
chief ministerial candidate, Shankersinh Vaghela, who
lost the elections, was painted as a grassroots leader
whose only mantra was development and prosperity.
As for this time around, the Congress spokesman
in Gujarat, Hasmukh Parel, told Asia Times Online, "We
will not bother too much with SMS and the Net because
the percentage of those who use them is very small."
The deputy chief whip of the Congress party in
Gujarat echoed these sentiments, and was quoted in a
national daily as saying: "Our campaign will be low
profile and conventional because the Congress is a
traditional party. Information technology does not have
much role in elections. While the Congress remains the
party of the poor, the BJP represents the rich. The poor
have no mobile or Internet access."
Many
descriptions were used to define the approaches of the
two main political parties, the Congress and the BJP -
"soft Hindutva" to "hard Hindutva", "communal card" to
"caste card". A new debate, however, also emerged about
technology versus the "personal approach". Some labeled
it tradition versus modernity.
While one cannot
estimate how much of a difference SMS actually made to
the voter psyche, the fact of the matter was that the
side that won was tech-savvy. It was said that
technology emerged victorious, as it is the small
percentages that can make the big difference in Indian
elections.
The BJP again made full-use of its
tech expertise during elections in the crucial states of
Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh that
were held on December 1, 2003. It was apparent that,
after its initial success, the BJP went whole-hog in
replicating the Gujarat technology model, running its
campaigns via SMS over mobile phones and the Internet.
The Congress party, though, still seemed to be
caught in a bit of a time warp. Reports emanating from
Rajasthan again billed the vote as tradition versus
modernity in the assembly elections, with the BJP going
high-tech while the Congress relied on the usual
methods.
One BJP campaign member-in-charge was
quoted as saying: "The role of technology has increased
over the last couple of years. About 60 out of the 200
assembly seats in Rajasthan are urban. SMS and e-mail
messages would be quite effective."
Apparently
so. The BJP won.
In Delhi, the strategies of
the BJP and Congress were similar as the
incumbent, Congress Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit, is
known for her proclivity toward technology.
She
won, too.
With the general elections just a few
months away, the technology brigade is back in action
once more. Within the BJP, apart from Modi, other,
younger leaders such as Pramod Mahajan, Arun Jaitley,
Venkaiah Naidu and Rajnath Singh subscribe to the same
tech-savvy approach. Kurta clad BJP leaders are making
their rounds with corporate, tech-savvy style
presentations replete with the use of databases,
statistics and scientific inputs.
The BJP's tech
strategy was summed up by Union Minister Arun Jaitley
recently, who said that the party's main target group in
the elections was the youth between the age group of
18-25, the most likely to be in tune with the latest
technologies. They also are targeted those under 35, who
form the majority of India's population.
And it
appears it is the BJP again that is making every effort
to reach the electorate using the latest in gadgetry.
The BJP has built a hefty database of voters and their
phone numbers. The Mission 2004 website, a product of
the BJP media center, is ready. Professionals working
for the BJP give out hand-outs and brochures from the
institutes of information technology and top management
personnel from premier software and advertising firms.
However, with the stakes raised higher, the
Congress is far less averse to the use of modern methods
to reach out to the electorate and party workers. The
website "aiccwarroom.net" has been built to connect to
Congress workers in 600 districts. Another website,
"nationbetrayed.com", is meant to take on the BJP's
"India Shining" campaign.
To an independent
observer, regardless of whether the Congress or the BJP
comes out on top, technology has already emerged as the
big winner.
Siddharth Srivastava
writer is a New Delhi based journalist.
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