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It’s election Time

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DQI Bureau
New Update

Deepti Soni was in a routine morning meeting in a New Delhi office when her

mobile phone gave a vibrating alert. As she reluctantly answered the call, she

could hardly believe her ears. It was the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee,

himself on the line, outlining his government’s achievements and asking her to

"vote for the BJP to help build a strong India".

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Same city, different place: Ramesh Gupta was awaiting an SMS from his wife

when his Nokia 3310 gave a "ting"–with the message: ‘Vote4Congress’.

None too pleased, he quickly erased the text message.

Arnab Sen is a staunch Leftist. But that didn’t prevent his hotmail inbox

from receiving several "saffron emails" with ‘India Shining’

messages, including one stating, "Did you know that national security was

given top priority under the BJP with defence expenditure increasing by 65 per

cent from 399 billion rupees (1998-99) to 660 billion (2004-05)".

India’s biggest democratic event is at the doorstep and

political parties and their candidates are reaching out to the electorates

through computers and mobile phones, competing to grab eyeballs and earpieces

through every available means.

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Bharat

Uday
is also about adopting

new technologies like SMS and Wi-Fi enabled ‘rath’

The humbly folded hands, which not so long ago implored for

votes, are now busy on the keypads, ahead of the April-May parliamentary polls,

serenading voters with a very different and much more modern style of connecting

directly with the people.

Though blaring speeches over loudspeakers, banners and

graffiti and public rallies at which hired crowds are herded together to listen

to politicians are still not passé in this country, the national election

campaign in the world’s largest democracy has received an unprecedented

technological dimension with the "e-campaign" blitz mainly launched by

the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the main opposition Congress party.

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If Vajpayee’s recorded voice is cutting into mobiles and

fixed telephones, Congress leaders are calling subscribers directly and chatting

with them. Telugu Desam Party supremo and high-tech chief minister of Andhra

Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu, is leaving no stones unturned and going all out with

a multimedia blitzkrieg to woo voters.

High

tech
flows down from the

leader

Using new technology to suit individual requirements has been

happening in India for quite sometime now. But this time it has gone on an

overdrive, on the political front. For instance, the BJP is targeting between 12

to 15 crore voters–close to a quarter of more than 60 crore registered voters

in the country- through the Internet, telephones, television, and radio.

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"We have already drawn up a list of two crore telephones

from the seven crore mobile and land phones in the country and have collected a

database of about two crore e-mail IDs," BJP general secretary and the

party’s campaign manager Pramod Mahajan says.

According to data available there are about 1.6 crore

Internet users in the country.

And, if BJP has collected about two crore IDs, it means

virtually every e-mail account will see a "saffron mail".

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Some 30 million Indians own mobile phones, while about 10

million have access to the Internet in a scenario where technology is touching

countless lives.

For the world’s largest democracy, these elections can be

the inflection point for the IT of the masses. "IT will be catalytic in

these elections," says a leading IT vendor.

According to him, PC industry can have huge sales.

"Nearly 5,000 candidates may compete in these elections and if about 10

laptops are required to support his/her infrastructure, it is about 50,000

laptops we are talking about," he says.

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Due to the elections, industry is already experiencing an

increased Internet activity, a boom in weblogs, inflated mobile bills and usage

of mass SMS software.

The fact that more and more "youngsters" are

entering the political arena is also another reason for the "IT boom"

in politics. In 1999, maximum elected members were in the age group of 46-55

(180), which in Indian politics is considered "young". Of them 29 MPs

were between 25 and 30 years.

Indexing

opposition unity for cutting

edge politics

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Political parties are counting on the fact that with the rise

in literacy in the country to 66 % in the last 15 years, the hi-tech propaganda

will get across to many, many more. And IT will help them send across the

message to the masses in the least possible time and at a very low cost.

"There are about 600 million electorates in the country

and by the time of polling, we should be able to get across to 120 million

voters through telephone, SMS and e-mail," says Ajay Singh, a member of BJP’s

technology cell. "The idea is mass scale use of technology with minimum

costs," Singh, who is in regular touch with the party members across the

nation through emails and SMS, adds.

Not to be left behind is the Congress, which first infused

computers when its slain leader, Rajiv Gandhi, was the prime minister during

1984-89.

The party is also going hi-tech all the way. Vishvjit

Prithvijit Singh, chairman, AICC computer department, says, "For the first

time we have a dynamic presentation of our manifesto on the website which also

has a voice-over."

"We will call up people and our leaders will talk to

voters directly, instead of putting in recorded messages," he adds. Most of

the party headquarters have already installed servers, SMS software, bulk SMS

facility, 24x7 media monitoring and put an IT savvy team in place.

Leading the Bandwagon



Leading the pack is the BJP and the Congress at the national level and the

TDP at regional level. These parties are using various tools that not only help

them do proactive thinking, but also a chalk out strategies backed by data,

giving a true picture of the electorates and the voter pattern.

Who’s

Using What
BJP

PDAs, websites, weblogs, GIS, bulk messaging, voice packets, Wi-Fi,

own servers, LAN, database management, laptops
Congress

Database management, laptops, website, SMS
TDP

PDAs, websites, weblogs, GIS, bulk messaging, Voice packets, Wi-Fi,

own servers, LAN, database management, laptops, video conferencing

Electoral mapping was done till now in a very primitive

manner by cutting and pasting data from various means–news wires, political

analysts and the Election Commission of India. Now most of the leading political

parties are doing GIS mapping, registering data as old as 20 years to understand

the party swing and trends.

All India Congress Committee calculates an IOU–Index of

Opposition Unity for every constituency based on the dynamic and static data

available with them. The higher the IOU, the greater is the possibility of

losing the seat. This all might sound great math to a layman, but the technique

is simple–it uses the excel sheets to generate these numbers.

BJP has a team of about 30 people managing the IT

infrastructure. This team is managing and diffusing information that is required

for the party workers, electors and contestants simultaneously. With about ten

TV sets and similar number of PCs, the media monitor cell of BJP is keeping its

members abreast with the latest political movements.

Vishvjit Prithvijit Singh of the Congress makes sure he

matches the zeal of the opposition camp. Loading bulk SMS software, Singh does

regular data crunching exercise on elections on his PC. He maintains a close

pack of team, which gives inputs to experts who are chalking the strategy for

the coming election.

Calculating IOUs came in easy for the AICC team.

"Utilizing data is like mining, just be sure what you want," says

Singh. AICC’s mapping database covers all the constituencies that Congress had

contested in the last 50 years.

Tech-wizards at the TDP office arrange video conferencing

every week to connect the regional party offices with the party headquarter to

discuses what has happened and what needs to be done.

The TDP is also trying to ward off the challenge from a

buoyant opposition alliance through the help of IT. Naidu, the man responsible

for making Hyderabad the IT hub, has included latest technologies in a vehicle,

to be included in his convoy, to enable him to be in touch with party leaders

and interact with them while undertaking tours in remote areas of the state.

Naidu and his folks are also busy these days sending emails

and typing messages to voters seeking their support for the

"pro-development" party.

Vajpayee’s voice message has attracted large response,

especially for the rural areas. For them, it is their prime minister calling

them up, still a fancy for the masses. PC has not been able to make such an

impact. However, with about 10 million PCs and 20 million Internet users, online

mode of communication and IT usage are also gaining popularity.

Making the Transition



Besides LAN in place, political parties are generating ways to use the IT

devices. Older generation has also learnt how to use the IT. PDA seems to be a

hot favorite of the younger political generation. Go to a political party office

and you will find politicians flaunting Palms along with mobile phones.

BJP president Venkaiah Naidu carries his laptop wherever he

goes. According to him, it is the "window to the world" in these busy

days, right from picking up the news pieces to contacting the members spread

across the nation.

During his Bharat Uday Yatra, the 75-year old deputy prime

minister L K Advani was riding a Wi-Fi enabled rath (a mini-bus converted into a

hi-tech vehicle). Connected through either satellite communication or CDMA

phones, it had four laptops on board to download regular media updates and

upload a minute-by-minute brief of the happenings during the Yatra.

"IT is important. It is fast and accurate information

mode, and information is quintessential for politics," BJP joint convener

(National Media Cell), Sidharth Nath Singh says.

TDP’s use of video conferencing facility is famous among

the tech echelons. Task for this IT savvy party was to harvest the already

present infrastructure and database. Currently, TDP’s headquarter in Hyderabad

is connected to 23 districts and 1,104 mandals through a dedicated line.

TDP’s chairman of the technical committee, PNV Prasad says,

"IT is now a part of life, everyone is using IT in some way or the other in

urban areas. However, the day is not far when rural areas will also be

IT-enabled."

TDP has its complete database of its 21lakh members and

regular mails and information about the party activities are sent out to

members.

Prasad adds, "It is true that for a large chunk of

people IT is still an alien thing, but a lot will change by the next elections.

Look at the difference mobile communications have brought in." According to

him, once IT penetrates the masses with vernacular applications, it would

"change the daily chores of people".

Video

conference allows TDP workers from 23 districts and 1,104 mandals to

discuss election strategies

Vishvjit Singh feels that technology has become popular as it

is convenient, dependable, available all the time and a price performer in the

long run. "IT has brought excellent tools to analyze data, which is not

possible otherwise. It also has the transparency factor in it, which is really

essential now," he adds.

The Real Drivers



Puretech Internet has developed the official website for the BJP. "The site
is driven by a content management system, allowing easy maintenance and constant

updating," says Prashant Deorah, MD, Puretech.

First uploaded in 1998, this site was adjudged the best among

Asia Pacific Political websites. Currently the site is being upgraded. However,

he declined to divulge details of the fund being utilized on this project.

According to BJP insiders, the party has earmarked about five percent of its

total election budget for e-campaign.

Deorah agrees that technology can be and will be a vital tool

towards ‘transformation’. "Our involvement is with the Internet medium.

Hence, besides the web site development, its promotion online, using various

communication channels on the Internet will be carried out to the right

audience. This would be a one on one, 24x7 available mechanism," he says.

Adarsh Singh, Technical Director for Itindustries.com, which

has made the official website for the Congress, also says, "Online presence

has been there for quite a while, but now with the increased internet

penetration, it has become a basic tool. Almost all the political organizations

have their online presence."

According to him, the reasons for the popularity of IT have

been the low cost of deployment and usage. "One helicopter trip to a

distant station can cost anywhere between Rs 10 to Rs 20 lakh, while technical

tools give them privacy, ubiquitous presence and low expenditure."

The Congress is said to have invested about Rs five lakh in

revamping the present website.

Firewall



So far we have heard about voice calls, SMS, emails, video conferencing,

data crunching and GIS mapping. This is just the tip of the iceberg in

"politics" now. Politcial parties are now coming out with disaster

recovery plans, maintaining firewalls to protect their data, hosting websites on

multiple servers and working from multiple sites. Ironically, their vendors are

not big time SIs, but regular technology vendors that fulfill their sporadic

requirements.

Why

Infotech?
Cheap

With ECI becoming strict on the election fund usage, finding cost

effective methods to campaign and gain leadership is important.
Saves

time
IT

enables a lot of time saving. With one single click of the mouse,

parties can send SMSs, e-mails and voice messages to a database of

thousands.
Easy

on resources


Parties don’t have to employee a lot of people to use IT. A small

pack can support national campaign from a central facility.
Secure

Using IT tools is secure to be used. For example, AICC’s Website

is hosted on seven servers, which is not easy to heck. These tools

remain in good hands, which means no misuse of the resources.
24x7

accessibility
IT tools can

be used anytime and accessed from anywhere, which is good for

international audience and people who wants to know what is

happening at the click of a mouse.

Almost all the national parties are using websites and few

regional parties are also using online presence. The Congress has hosted its

website on seven different servers to protect it from any hacking activities. On

the same lines, BJP’s website has firewall and other protection systems in

place to keep it secure. Some of the regional parties, especially in the

southern India have websites in vernacular languages. Voice packets and SMS are

the other widely used tools.

For example, in a short notice of two hours to arrange a

press conference for the release of candidate’s list, BJP’s Sidharth Nath

Singh was done with the job in about 30 minutes contacting the media and taking

out CDs for the releases. He just had to flash a group SMS to the party beat

correspondents and party members to ensure adequate coverage.

Video conferencing not only saves money, but also saves a lot

of time. Prasad says that this method, being held every week, has saved them

efforts, money and has given them what money could never buy–time. Bulk faxing

is also used by most of the political parties to send press releases and

announcements.

Vishvjit Singh of the Congress says, "Authenticating and

analyzing static and dynamic data can be crucial for success of any party."

The party is using old and new data to decide on the ticket allotment, fund

allocation and resource management. It has also launched their revamped website

on April 17, which has about 750 pages and downloadables that include pictures,

posters, AV files and other support materials. Cutting photograph and manifesto

CDs have also come in handy for the party office.

The Software



IL Infotech has implemented two software applications for the BJP. The first

one is the ExpressPR software that sends news, press releases and announcements

to a number of newspapers by e-mail or Fax. The other is the Media Monitor

software to monitor the news published across the country and send the clippings

to central leaders.

Global

Politics
In

developing nations, the Internet is increasingly becoming the place

where politics happens. E-mails and websites are being used to gain

party workers and raise money. Some parties are making their online

presence and the Internet the prime method of campaigning. Online

tools are cheap, fast and reliable in campaigning. Above all, the

small investment pays in the long term. With about 72 countries

going for elections this year, IT tools will surely see a surge in

use by the political parties.

ExpressPR uses Indian Language fonts to send the news or

press release by e-mail in the respective font being used by newspapers.

Futuristic in nature, this software lets them send various newspapers; news

releases in vernacular languages as well. ExpressPR maintains a database of

newspapers across the country to send these releases on a regular basis through

its automatic distribution model.

Media Monitor is a web-based application to monitor the media

publicity received by the party. This helps the regional offices to get

information in time and with almost no knowledge of PC. Idea is to utilize

applications that can be used by the masses with no or little training.

Up Ahead: IT Wave



Mobile communication, online webcasts, websites and mobile computing, though

not very active, would be the technologies to watch during these elections. This

also means a new stream of revenue for the IT business and some sleepy days

ahead. How? Don’t be surprised next time you get calls from all contestants

from your constituency.

However, campaigning activities presently are still using new

media in the traditional ways. They are not using IT in the true manner. For

instance parties are using websites not as tools but as PR exercise.

Vishvjit

P Singh
of the Congress calculates

Index of Opposition Unity for every constituency using dynamic and

static data

The Congress putting their print ad online has not made much

impact, but buying online ads might flourish in the future. Having satellite

communication in unwired regions will also be used. Wireless communications will

surface in coming times, which will use PDAs and mobile computing devices to

enable data transfer. Election Commission of India is using mobile phones to

ensure the security of the Electronic voting machines. The voice packets and

dedicated call centers will also be used as the telecom grows.

For most political parties, the ensuing elections are a

"tech leap" and a beginning of an IT wave in their "chaotic

environment".

Like Vajpayee’s voice messages, which may have added a

personal touch to BJP’s canvassing, the day is not far when each and every

candidate takes out his small IT tool and tries to invade the homes of his

valuable electorates.

Shweta Khanna/CyberMedia

News with inputs from Nandita Singh in Hyderabad, Nanda Kasbe in Pune CR

Jayachandran in Delhi

SMS Campaigns

M-campaigning is an instant, personalized and cost-effective

medium to reach the voter. In addition, it gives vast options like SMS, picture

message, voice messages, logos, ring tones, messages in vernacular languages

etc. The political parties have realized the power of m-campaigning. According

to rough estimates, SMS will form 20% of the total campaigning budget during the

Lok Sabha elections and the coming years will witness vertical rise in this

figure. Besides campaigning messages to the voters, the parties also set up

virtual networks over SMS to communicate to their party workers.

Many software companies are trying to take advantage of this

business opportunity, as the mobile operators would not push messages to their

subscribers directly.

According to Naveen Varshneya, Founder & CEO, Mobile

Mantra, a leading bulk SMS vendor, "Now, with the rapid penetration of

mobile technology, introduction of WLL and the outnumbering fixed line users by

30 mn mobile users, the need for m-campaigning is not only inevitable but

vital."

"BJP is at the Cutting Edge"



BJP

has put a team of 30 experts to manage its election IT

infrastructure

From a global perspective India is faring quite well. It has

not reached cutting edge but it is showing signs of rapid progress. It is

behind the US, South Korea, Switzerland, and other more IT advanced

countries, but is way ahead of most of the world. India’s upcoming

election will be a true test for the country. The world is watching and

wondering if the BJP e-campaign is just hype or will prove itself at the ballot

box. Also, the e-Ballot box is another issue where Indian is

actually leading the world. No country has used so many (1

million) EVM’s for an election. If Indian can get through the election

without major machine failures or vote tampering, this will greatly help the

credibility of EVM’s throughout the world. It will also increase its adoption

rate.

During these elections, various parties are using data

crunching software, bulk SMSs, Wi-Fi enabled canvassing vans and websites. In

addition to this, can I get a fare perspective on how advance is Indian

political parties in harnessing the IT tools.  

SMS does not work in the US. Some campaigns in the US have

tried this and it failed miserably. Americans have not yet adopted this, because

of other peer to peer technologies, and it probably won’t until new

innovations arise. One thing that the BJP is doing is emailing and texting

everyone. Most campaigns do not have the money or resources to do this. In

American politics for example, ads and letters go to swing voters or the

undecided. Politicians do not focus greatly those loyal to the Party

because they know they are going to vote for them regardless. I personally do

not know how much money the BJP has, but If I were them, I would focus more

on reaching the undecides rather than everyone. To their credit, the way they

announced the e-campaign did create a huge stir, which got them a lot of free

publicity.

Phone calling and SMS texting is the way to go for the BJP.

Not enough people in India are on the Web yet for it to be truly effective. In

sum, what the BJP is doing is cutting edge, few countries have ran elections

this way. However, India does have problems. The digital divide in this country

is one of the worst in the world. The country is working towards closing the gap

with e-gov, kiosks, e-learning, etc. India has also made appeals to the World

Bank and other organizations for e-gov funding. India is moving in the right

direction with IT, but its greatest barrier is socio-culture not IT acceptance.

(David Abel, Editor & General Manager PoliticsOnline,

as told to Shweta Khanna)

ECI’s Tech Wagon

The Election Commission of India (ECI) is uploading information about

candidates, including their educational qualifications, financial liabilities

and criminal record. It is on an average adding about 1,000 pages a day on its

website that contains election information right from 1951. Already with about

20 lakh pages online, it is adding new pages in the score of thousands to their

comprehensive Website–www.eci.gov.in.

Running with the assistance of software called Genesys, this Website can be

viewed in 12 Indian vernacular languages apart from English and Hindi. Launched

in 1998, just two days prior to start of Counting for General Elections to 12th

Lok Sabha, this aims at becoming a comprehensive plan for use of IT in Electoral

Management and Administration initiated by the Commission.

The database, centrally maintained in the Commission Secretariat is instantly

updated through an automated process. During the general elections more than a

thousand pages will be refreshed with latest data every five minutes.

Managed by CMC Ltd and inputs by CDAC, Pune, the entire infrastructure for

the Website is located inside Nirvachan Sadan, housing the Secretariat of the

Election Commission of India. Running on Oracle database, most applications have

been developed using Visual Basic and Java script.

AN Jha, ECI spokesman, says, "Website is revolution for the masses. It

supports transparency in the processes and helps us do work in real time.

Currently we are getting about 60,000 to 70,000 hits per day on the site and

will increase to 3 lakh per day during the elections. "

ECI is also looking at bulk SMS software to educate urban electoral rolls

about the election process and ensure higher voters’ turnout.

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