With The Use Of Tech, Political Parties Have Transformed India’s Elections

Like any other sector, politics too was rescued by technology. Amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, everyone learnt to do business through online platforms with the help of technology. However, political parties adopted technology long before 2014 and the major player in this game was BJP.

The BJP has taught all the political parties how to use technology to win the election. From virtual rallies to video interactions with cadres, political parties ensured that they did not miss the chance. However, technology has provided a solution to affluent political parties to stay relevant and visible amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

It was an amazing experience how political parties addressed people and helped them despite the absence of their conventional toolbox. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has given a fresh vocabulary and method to Indian politics. Technology is a broad term used to describe the medium used to communicate with voters: TV, Laptop, Mobile and the internet.

It is significant nowadays because of the logistics involved in conducting the nationwide elections. However, with the rapidly advancing nation, technology has also advanced and political parties have realised that they need to endeavour and simply deploy representatives.

In a competitive and diverse political system like India, every technology has its own impact and significance and yields different results. However, it depends on the message, the targeting crowd and the location.

The 2004 Lok Sabha Election was the first instance technology played a significant role.

The 2004 election was an instance when political parties learned to use technology in elections, and it had a significant role in several ways. With regulations on television ads, billboard sizes, etc., political parties were forced to move towards mobile and internet technologies.

Several newly formed parties also got themselves into the same shoes and started to fight elections. The 2004 BJP election campaign was called “India Shining”, which although failed to bring the party back to power.

However, the 2004 general election served to highlight how technology helped reach record numbers of people. Meanwhile, political parties learnt to use technology to convey their messages to many audiences without any physical appearance.

During the 2004 General election, internet penetration was around 4%. The low internet penetration forced the BJP to consider another up-and-coming communication channel, mobile technology.

The Bharatiya Janata Party used a full-fledged technology campaign where they recorded a one-minute election message. “Namaskar, main Atal Behari Vajpayee bol raha hoon,” in the voice of the then PM Vajpayee. The recorded message reached around 8 crore people.

Apart from this voice blast, BJP also sent out bulk SMS to people around the nation with the option to download party ringtones. The ruling party also gave the option to save BJP-related images as screensavers.

The Emergence Of Real-Time Surveys & Conference Calling

The political parties with enough resources and wealth have gone one step further in bridging the voter-candidate gap. Rich parties are extensively using smartphone-based surveys and large member conference calls via apps to make crucial decisions. However, the Congress party has even admitted that they used data collected via surveys and conference calls to decide CM candidates.

For the latest general elections, opposition parties conducted large scale conference calls and issue-based surveys such as on the Rafale deal controversy. They also conducted a survey on the effects of demonetisation and women entering Kerala’s Sabarimala temple. They conducted the surveys via automated and hosted calls that allow people to press a key and record live feedback.

The ruling party even conducted conference call surveys and asked its party workers to personally call every individual and ask questions related to public issues.

The 2014 general election is the latest example of how technologies provided an enormous competitive advantage.

The use of technology as a means of generating visibility and influencing opinion are well known. Former U.S. President Obama’s campaigns and the Arab Spring taught us of the power of these platforms.

All major Indian political parties have adopted technology, but this is only the tip of the iceberg. In 2014 I saw a news article that said according to opinion polls, the opposition BJP was likely to record a historic win. What is less understood is how they have taken the use of technology to a new level.

According to media reports, there are 20 lakh volunteers driving this effort. In addition, Modi’s campaign has included innovative digital initiatives like “Chai pe Charcha”, where the MP candidate has live chats with groups of young voters at countryside tea stalls facilitated by satellite, DTH and the internet.

Narendra Modi simultaneously addressed large numbers of youth voters using hologram technology.

Then there was a series of virtual rallies where Modi simultaneously addressed large numbers of youth voters using hologram technology. The latest technology of that time created a 3D illusion for the crowd. The technology has enabled him to reach crores of additional voters, and no doubt, impress quite a few of them with his rock-show type pyrotechnics.

There are many more such instances, including the use of voice recognition technology to allow voters to dial in and listen to their favourite party’s pre-recorded messages.

India will witness robot campaigners in the 2022 assembly elections.

As everyone knows, mass public gatherings remain an obvious danger in India amid the Covid-19 pandemic. You may see robots performing campaigning on behalf of political leaders in the 2022 Assembly elections, which are going to happen in five states. Onestand India Pvt Ltd has developed a humanoid robot called “DOOT” for this purpose.

Doot can communicate and deliver the impression of a human being with excellent voice recognition, face recognition and gestures. The robots are likely to be seen campaigning for the assembly polls in 2022. According to the company official, they are in talks with respective political parties to deploy these robot campaigners for the state elections.

The states that go to the polls in 2022 are Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Goa and Gujarat. In the Tamil Assembly polls, a newly formed political party India Makkal Munnetra Katchi (IMMK) introduced a humanoid robot for campaigning for the first time. Called “Doozy”, the four-foot robot was also the party symbol.

Now, Doot is ready to campaign for political parties by reaching out to a limited group of people with their messages amid the pandemic. The robot’s rover has a large wheelbase, with an all-wheel-drive gearbox, which enables it to move easily even on rough surfaces. Through artificial intelligence (AI), Doot enabled voice recognition, the humanoid robot will address the public on behalf of the politician.

Doot is equipped with a custom-made servo motor, which enables the full upper body to bend and raise with ease. The robot can also twist itself with 140 degrees of freedom, which makes it the only humanoid in the country to do so. HD cameras are installed in the head, which enables the operator to have a look at the audience and also record the attendees.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, political leaders are unable to meet their party workers and voters. Doot robot campaigners will save a lot of time as multiple humanoids could go to multiple places at the same time. Earlier, drones were rented out to various municipal corporations in Bihar for sanitisation during the first Covid-19 wave.

The humanoids have been developed by Mumbai-based innovator Santosh Haulawale who has partnered with Onestand India. Haulawale earlier created robots for treating Covid-19 patients and assisting healthcare workers. The introduction of robot campaigners can not only be a novelty factor for assembly campaigns but also save people from coming into close contact.

Conclusion

All this is good news for the technology and outsourcing industry, not least for numerous Indian start-ups, many of whom were unheard of before this election. It is evident that technology will continue to play a significant role in political campaigning and even in polling.

As we mentioned above, political parties use communication technologies to not just convince voters but also help their core committees make important decisions based on prevalent issues. Therefore, it would not be far-fetched to conclude that politics itself is changing thanks to advancements in communication technologies.

Featured image via Wikimedia Commons