India's Politics in the Age of Digital Communications Technology

Peter Kazanjy, co-founder of Tech for Campaigns, serial entrepreneur, author, investor, and advisor says, “There are opportunities for every kind of "tech & digital professional in the political field! You have to think about the basic "job" that goes into campaigns-whether electoral or political campaigns-and then where there are opportunities for technological and digital expertise to assist with that work.”

Digital communication technology is a broad term used to describe the media used to communicate to voters— television, radio, telephone, and the Internet. Over the years, all these media have been used by political parties to spread their ideas.

Because India is a diverse country, political interaction has always been full of challenges. It is inherently complicated because of the logistics involved in running elections across the country, and complex because politicians need to connect to the largest electoral base in the world.

With all of these factors in mind, political parties appointed earlier' karyakartas' or representatives to city, district, and state-level members to solve problems and serve people better. Nevertheless, with fast-moving technology, parties have discovered that they need to do much more than just send members.

In a complex political system like India, each communication medium is crucial and results in different ways, depending on factors such as the message, the target audience, and the location.

The Game Changer – 2004 General Elections

The 2004 election was a first-of-its-kind in a number of ways. With new rules on Television ads, banner sizes, and poster placement, political parties were forced to move towards mobile and internet technologies. The 2004 BJP election campaign called 'India Shining' which, though failing to bring the party back to power, served to highlight how the new digital technology helped reach masses.

Yet internet penetration in 2004 was only 3.6%, prompting the BJP to find another upcoming medium of communication — mobile technology.

The BJP used a smart mobile technology advertisement, capturing a one-minute election message "Namaskar, main Atal Behari Vajpayee bol raha hoon..." by then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, which reached about 72 Mn people– 46 Mn on fixed lines and 26 Mn on mobile phones. Apart from this voice blast, the party also sent Bulk SMS to men, with the option of downloading party ringtones and mobile screensavers.

The other political parties soon reached their supporters via telephone calls. Soon, the public received multiple SMS from many different political parties, not only to seek votes but also to provide information on the party manifesto, the leading candidate and the location of the polling booths.

Responsive communication - The new Mantra:

A 2009 study by IndiaStat's on the zone wise number of Internet subscribers in India noted that Internet use in the country increased by 684 percent from 2000-2004. During this time, political parties launched their websites to disseminate information about party ideology, member profiles, leader images, and so on.

Technical limitations, however, meant that interaction remained a one-way operation, and the only way to engage directly with voters was to have them fill out their contact details on online registration forms.

IVR in Indian Politics:

With more advanced telecommunications technology, political parties have started using IVR technology, primarily associated with the call centers. Interactive voice response technology. During 2009 general election, the BJP was the first party to do this.

The BJP announced a toll-free number for people living in Mumbai and various kinds of information, polling places, their electoral candidate etc. were provided to callers.

Real-time data collection and Conference Calling System

Political parties have now gone a step further in bridging the voter-candidate relations. They are widely using phone-based surveys and large member conference calls via apps like "grptalk" to make crucial decisions. Yes, Congress has even stated that they used data collected through telephone surveys and conference calls to decide on Chief Ministerial candidates.

For the 2019 general elections, the Congress party has been conducting large scale conference calls and issue-based surveys such as on the Rafale deal controversy, the effects of demonetisation, and women entering Kerala’s Sabarimala temple.

Such surveys are carried out using automated calls that enable people to press a key and record live feedback. The BJP also carries out conference calls by asking party workers to call voters directly and to ask questions related to public grievances.

Political spying and digital technology:

At the beginning of 2018, we have come across TheFacebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal raising an eye over the user’s privacy breach. While interrogating Mark Zuckerberg, The FB CEO; US senators asked as to how the Facebook personal data of its users were used to determine their personal preferences to design perfect political campaigning. Zuck clarified that even FB had not full control over its data and privacy leak happened then. Washington Post wrote that FB is one got to be exposed but data leak on the internet is a common phenomenon nowadays. There are so many digital platforms to whom subscribers used to but it’s tough to believe that the user’s activities go unrecorded. Today, Indian political parties are openly deploying these digital spying to take an edge over the rivals.

While there are many possibilities in the future, it is clear that smartphone and Internet technologies will remain an integral part of the political campaign. As noted, political parties not only appeal for votes but also help their core committees make important decisions based on public opinion, using communication technologies. Therefore, the assumption that politics itself shifts due to developments in communication technologies would not be far-fetched.