Ballot Palette

Don't be surprised if you receive an 'adult' SMS from the otherwise
conservative BJP (the message by BJP Yuva Morcha says, “This is an adult
message, do not read if under 18.”) asking you to go and vote. There is nothing
to worry about if your phone rings and you hear a polite message in Oriya,
“Hellow, mun tumara mukhyamantri kahuchi” (Hello, this is the CM speaking) from
BDJ candidate and Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik seeking your blessings for the
upcoming general elections.

The heat is on. Even in this slowdown season, a colony that is largely
unaffected, and can afford to be extravagant are Indian politicians. There are
advertising agencies, image managers, lyricists and of course the telcos that
are pinning their hopes on making some moolah from the brand-General Elections
2009 and the Men in Khadi.

Even if the US is looked up to as a super power, it shouldn't be forgotten
that India has long been known as the Golden Bird. A recent Centre for Media
Studies (CMS) survey estimates that a whopping $2 bn will be spent by April 16,
2009 to pull voters. The amount is even higher than the $1.8 bn spent in the
world's most speculated event-the 2008-09 US presidential elections. Believe it
or not, that is twice the amount spent in the last Lok Sabha polls (Rs 4,500
crore).

There is a shift in the way the elections are being contested. Nothing new
about political mud-slinging, bribing and making tall claims. Banners, posters
and plastic souvenirs have been replaced by blogs, SMSes, online music videos,
ring tones, radio, social networking sites, etc. Besides, green is in, so no
plastic.

Last elections, BJP had partnered Value First for its mobile messaging
services. This year there are many more tie-ups. If there was any gloom about
the IPL going to South Africa, thank God the elections are still happening here.

Telcos are designing special election news alert packages for their
subscribers. Airtel and Vodafone have tied up with NDTV on a content sharing
agreement to offer election related content as SMS alerts everyday. Airtel
offers two local alerts and two national alerts per day at a tariff of Re1 per
day, while Vodafone provides live news feeds on a monthly subscription of Rs 30
upto the May 31. Its package includes four updates daily on the candidate's
profile, trivia about past elections, information on key constituency profiles,
latest elections news and poll results. Aircel is aiming to increase GPRS usage
by offering its election alerts on a WAP platform.

It is not only the political parties that are getting business for telcos. A
number of NGOs and association groups are also spending on spreading awareness
among voters through mailers, SMSes, helplines, etc. The National Election Watch
and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has launched a helpline for voters
to scrutinize the contenders' records. Over a lakh mobile and fixedline
subscribers will receive calls that will play a recorded message by the actor.

By now most of us have had an overdose of BJP Prime Ministerial hopeful, LK
Advani's 2.0 version. The iron man is now the Internet man. Going the Obama way,
he is now eyeing support from the young and tech-savy in India. He, however,
isn't giving Obama a run for his popularity. The US President has over 1.5 mn
friends on social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook and over 45,000
followers on Twitter. Advani has shown a decent performance with more than
25,000 hits everyday.

Not to forget Congress' yuvraj, Rahul Gandhi has been trying to cash in on
his father, Rajiv Gandhi's contribution to telecommunications in India.

So amidst broadcasters making money from selling commercial slots to
political parties, to those engaged in jobs designing interesting messages,
there are some interesting business models and a lot of money to be made from
this election. It is premature to say which party will win, but business houses
will definitely yield. Till the curtains fall, we can only say 'DanceIndia
Dance' errr, Vote India Vote.

Heena Jhingan

heenaj@cybermedia.co.in