CHENNAI: Close to a hundred youth, in their twenties, are glued to their laptops on the 11th floor of a building in the capital city.
Team meetings happen simultaneously in different rooms while some young chaps are on bean bags, going on about their work in the large hall.
This scene may remind one of an IT company, but this is not one. It is the ‘war-time mood’ at the headquarters of the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), which manages the political campaign for the DMK.
Similarly, the AIADMK has roped in Sunil Kanugolu’s Mindshare Analytics, which makes advertisements and videos targeting the Opposition, with its headquarters also situated within the city.
For a State like Tamil Nadu which swayed on the oration, eloquence, and personality of stalwarts like M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa until last elections, this kind of campaigning is quite new.
The present leaders have safely opted to take the help of consultants to boost their image among the masses.
With smartphones and social media changing the public perception every hour, these new-age companies have become essential for the traditional political parties.
From gathering ground intelligence and the pulse from all 234 constituencies in the State to engaging in virtual wars, and taking the party’s message to the common people through various media, political strategists play a key role for the DMK.
Founded by Prashant Kishore, I-PAC is a well-known political consulting firm that previously managed campaigns for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP, Jagan Mohan’s YSRCP, among others, and is presently managing campaigns for the TMC in West Bengal as well.
When that’s the case with DMK, on AIAMDK’s side, Sunil has previously worked with Prashanth for PM Modi’s campaign and was also with DMK during the 2016 State elections when the party lost by a mere one per cent vote margin.
He has also worked for BJP in UP, Karnataka, and Gujarat State elections, where the party won. AIADMK’s campaign team focusses on the banner “Vetrinadai Podum Thamizhagam” and “Thodarattum Vetrinadai”, which highlights the achievements of the party.
The ruling party’s IT wing head ‘Aspire’ Swaminathan says that the party’s IT cell has broadcast groups, which send various ad videos of the the government policies as well as those countering the DMK.
“We are having a big reach,” says Swaminathan.
‘I-PAC is not DMK’s IT cell’
While I-PAC is often confused to be the IT cell of DMK, it is not correct, says a source, pointing out that they both perform different functions and I-PAC plays the role of a political strategist.
“Our group is divided into three- political intelligence team, media information team, and the field workers,” says an I-PAC source, who chose not to be named.
The team comprises of as many as 700 people who are spread out across the State, and more than 2,500 field volunteers consisting of the district, panchayat, and ward-level staff who are involved in collecting intelligence from the ground.
“Between three to four people work in each constituency. They work closely with the party to structure its campaign,” says another source, adding that they collect information on people’s issues and needs, the positives and negatives of the candidate and party, and the changing moods of the electorate.
The intelligence inputs run on a 24x7 feed system and the team suggests improvisations in campaign styles.
“More than 90 per cent of people working here are Tamilians and some of them also have a political science subject background. People from media and IT are also part of our team,” adds the source.
In the AIADMK campaign team, which is much smaller than the DMK’s, the methods of intelligence gathering are the same and they get reported to the leaders.
“Through WhatsApp and other media avenues, we push forward the success of the AIADMK rule and also trend campaigns on women-centric issues. We also came up with pamphlets on ‘10 reasons you must vote for AIADMK’,” says the source.
Meanwhile, the I-PAC also boasts of the success of 40 million views of Stalin’s Theme song ‘Stalin Thaan Vararu’.
The I-PAC headquarters also has a war-room where no outsider is allowed. Here, strategies are discussed among staff.
Art forms have always been campaign vehicles for the Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu. These political strategy groups may also be rebrewing our ‘home-made’ old wine and serving it in their new bottle.