Trinamool Congress gets Sabeer Bhatia’s technological edge

The stodgy Communists in West Bengal are up against a formidable challenge this time: social communication technology. Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has roped in the services of ‘Hotmail’ Sabeer Bhatia to reach out to the new generation of voters in the upcoming assembly polls.

Bhatia, co-founder of Hotmail email service that he later sold to Bill Gates’ Microsoft, will guide the party on how to use mobile telephony and the Internet to reach social communities for electoral dividends.

“We live in interesting times. As you’ve seen, the power of information and the power of the Internet have literally changed the world we live in. The entire Middle-East is witnessing revolutionary changes. That is primarily because information is in the hands of the people,” Bhatia said.

“I think a revolution will take place in India because of the deep mobile penetration in the country,” he said, adding more than the Internet, mobiles would be the choice of communication with voters.

The credit for bringing Bhatia on board goes to quiz master Derek O’ Brien, who has been helping Mamata. “He encouraged me to share them with his party members,” said Bhatia. “We are excited about the opportunities demonstrated to us by Bhatia, particularly the use of mobile telephony in reaching out to voters,” said Partha Chatterjee, leader of opposition in the West Bengal assembly. 
Two IIM graduates, Hariharan Sriram and Mansha Tandon, will assist Bhatia.