Local is turning global. Five non-resident Indians in the US, have plumped for the fledgling Loksatta party, helping it plan the campaign strategy for the civic poll. Call it electoral outsourcing if you will.
Here's how the arrangement works. “Apart from calling their friends and families in Bangalore, the five NRIs are also looking up data such as ward maps and voter lists, and are helping us with our door-to-door campaign. They analyse voter lists and inform us that a particular apartment complex has 200 units, along with the age details of the voters there. So, we try to arrange for a meeting with the residents with the help of the apartment owner’s association. This helps us campaign more effectively,” says Srinivas A, a technical expert and campaign co-ordinator for Loksatta.
“The NRIs are helping us sort out the voters’ list booth-wise. We are determined to reach out to each voter at least thrice. They will maintain a database of all the people we contact,” says Rama Lakshmi, president, Loksatta.
“We jokingly tell them that India is now outsourcing election work to the US as labour is “free”,” says Srinivas, adding that they regularly communicate with the five through video and email.
With numerous typo and factual errors in the voter-list on BBMP's website, the campaign volunteers are relying on the Smart Vote list.
One of the five NRIs, R Keshav, says he is inspired by Loksatta candidates like NS Ramakanth, Dr Meenakshi Bharat, Dr Shankar N. Prasad and others who have gained expertise in their respective fields and are now stepping into the political arena to better the system. “I feel a sense of satisfaction when I devote time for my city through such experts,” says Keshav.
Comments