While Indian enterprises are adopting technology to stay profitable, political parties in the country do not wish to be left far behind. They are going the tech way to attract and retain voters and remain in a position of power. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), though presently an active opposition party in the Parliament, is gearing itself for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. As a part of its election preparation efforts, the party has used open source software applications to automate all its operations, which is helping the BJP to not only keep in touch with its members but also reach out to voters.

The party has announced its tie-up with enterprise mobile data service provider ValueFirst for implementing an IP-based unified communications messaging solution. ValueFirst will extend its solution to BJP for developing an SMS-based communications network for all its members. BJP also has plans to connect its state-level headquarters through VPN before the scheduled Lok Sabha elections.

Informing about the IT initiatives the party is taking, Pradyut Bora, national convenor, IT Cell, BJP, says, "We are planning to connect our 600 offices across India through VPN so that our members can be contacted whenever the need be and wherever they may be. We also have plans to connect all district-level offices within the next two years. We are using open source in every application, be it hardware- or software-related. The party not only wishes to leverage various benefits of open source like customisation but also intends to overcome monetary constraints by using an open source platform, which is available free of cost".

The party is also coming up with a portal in 18 vernacular languages. Additionally, it has plans to roll out a voter relationship management application (RMA) to keep in touch with its voters; this application will work like a CRM application though it will be based on open source. The party has made its headquarters at Ashoka Road Wi-fi enabled to provide internet access and has also launched a BJPIM (Instant Messaging) facility for members. It has developed BTX (BJP Telecom Exchange) and is planning to provide a unique number to each of its members to provide them access to the unified communications system. The party has invested around Rs 5 lakh to develop the Unified Communications solution and to integrate it with other applications.

"In order to get feedback from the grass root level, it is very essential to use technology. Therefore, we have developed voice, SMS and email-based solutions for our party workers, who have to travel to the rural areas frequently to carry forward the participatory communication system," opines Bora. BJP has long-term plans to emerge as the numero uno automated political party not only in India but across the globe.

With an increasing number of tech-savvy youngsters joining politics, the party is planning to leverage IT not only for better internal communications, but also to maintain a healthy relationship with voters. IT will also play a major role at the back end. BJP has 40 lakh active members and these members will be connected through VPN and the unified communications solution. The creation of a national database of all its members is also in the pipeline; the party has already deployed 26 servers in its national data centre. In the days to come, the party plans to scale up technology usage across the country for all operations and among all members. The party has a dedicated IT cell to make decisions regarding technology deployment.