Posters,
cut-outs, door to door campaigning and even bribing poor voters is turning out
into a farce with technology playing a decisive role in the rise and fall of
politicians in the contemporary Indian political scenario. Notwithstanding the
fact that India is still a mixed basket of 790 million eligible voters with
only an approximate 200 million active internet users, the dream of a digitally
empowered India demands proactive politicians to engage in the new
communication mediums that influence the public opinion. In fact, the 16th
Lok Sabha elections was a tipping point with the present Prime Minister blazing
a trail for 3D rallies, Chai pe Charcha
and Mann ki Baat that helped to reach
out to millions of people at a time. Albeit the newly found use of technology, the
fundamentals of political campaigns remain the same like fund raising, getting
feedback, convincing the audience the need for supporting a cause and garnering
voters. Of late, political parties are using technology on a large scale to
address the above political fundamentals.
Technology circa 2000 until hitherto
The
Election Commission began embracing technology with the adoption of the Electronic
Voting Machines in 1999 and implemented it in a full scale from the 2004
elections that improved the time efficiency of both casting a vote and
declaring results. The Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) system was
introduced in 8 of the 543 parliamentary constituencies as a pilot project in
2014 aimed at minimising the chances of tampering with the EVMs. Political
parties have started using Google Hangout to address various questions about
party movements and social media has crept into the mainstream media’s
political discussions and objectives. A social media campaign by the Election
Commission in last four state assembly elections drew record levels of voter
registration and turnout. About 160 million in the 2014 elections were first
time voters between the ages of 18 and 24 years old. Political parties are
integrating YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and various microsites to reach out to
the users of technology.
Impact on politicians
However,
the impact of technology on politicians is ambivalent. Firstly, social media
platforms has helped the people to engage in political socialization and at the
same time, has also created a pulpit for self-proclaimed political pundits,
irrespective of their credentials and credibility, to spread their messages
that in turn adds to the brouhaha. Secondly, Videos of the speeches of most politicians
can be found on YouTube. In many of the posted videos, they are engaged in old
speeches, contradicting their current political positions. The media and the
opposition utilises these opportunities to score against their rivals. Often,
the accessibility of the audio and video clips, and wide media distribution,
breeds distrust among voters who support politicians who have had a change of
heart. Thirdly, the mass media activism, an emerging trend in India, demands
the political fraternity to stay proactive. But sometimes biased and hysterical
news anchors tend to channelize a biased outlook keeping realities in the dark.
The future
As is
followed in the west, the Indian politicians need to use technology extensively
to fund their campaigns. In 2008, the average donation to Barack Obama’s
election campaign was 80 USD and those who donated had donated more than once.
Realising quality campaign ads and songs through social media can fetch the candidate
both popularity and income. The ads of Bernie Sanders in 2016 US presidential
election campaign that has gone viral is an example to substantiate the
argument
The future
of the role of technology in Indian politics may find the use of QR codes in
the brochures and door hangers that allow voters to scan the campaign
literature with a smart phone and view regularly updated information and custom
videos. It helps them to search for new content and provide timely feedback.
Initiatives like Votizen leverages social networks to bring together registered
voters and like-minded people, enable candidates to identify and speak directly
to voters in their districts. Also social networking sites help political
parties to read the minds of the people and act accordingly. However, the role of technology in Indian
politics unlike the developed nations require innovations much more than the
otherwise trending use of social media platform in order to reach out to the
huge masses of illiterate and poor population. This is why Narendra Modi’s
election campaign became a whispering sensation in the entire country in 2014
and changed the style of politics in India.
