Cambridge Analytica & Data driven political marketing

Just because Cambridge Analytica has been credited with influencing the American voters in favor of successful flashy business magnate Trump it would be wrong to extrapolate the effects to explain the rise of Hindu Hero Narendra Modi in India. First unlike Trump, Narender has been continuously winning elections post Godhra riots 2002 that earned him the title of a Hindu hero. Agreed that Narender had never won any election before 2002 Gujarat riots. Mysteriously people tend to forget that Narender's mentor his senior LK Advani lost elections to Dr Manmohan Singh in 2009. Second the American mind has no resemblance to that of the Indian mind because the USA is extolled as the land of free & undisputed Global leader since the WW2 unlike India which have been ruled by people from all over the world hence can be described as the plaything of any who would dare to challenge the natives. The culture of people in an area is most critical resource than any other resource like minerals & location. The success or failure of an economy is also predicated on the characteristics of the people living in an area.

No one is born strong, rich & successful one has to plan and work for fulfillment in life.

If you wonder why the Hindu media in so called secular India has been wasting so much primetime TV on boring puppet shows on topic of the impact of political marketing on voters then shut your eyes observe two minute silence mourning 39 hardworking young Indians in Syria driven to death by Hindutva forces led by RSS.

Think why Indians have to go abroad to provide for their families back in India? Ask why RSS forces Indians to chant Bharat Mata ki jai while doing nothing to create jobs in India. Ask yourself who is forcing Indians to risk lives for earning a livelihood in dangerous places outside Indian subcontinent? Who would respect Bharat mata if she fails to take care of its progeny? The hindutva propaganda is the single biggest distraction, obstruction, away from the development politics in India. How can India grow when RSS want Indians to bend to tantra mantra of Hindu way of life? China and the west have grown by embracing liberal values, scientific temper assuring universal equality and justice for all which are anathema to RSS Hindutva lifestyle. How can India grow if continue to slide into abyss of ancient morality of bygone utopias?

Neither Narendra led RSS or Rahul’s Congress can win an election or influence substantial enough Indian minds even if they have access to adhaar database which is way more destructive a weapon than any databases generated thru some app or Facebook. Wont majority of Indians willingly sell their personal data for a ration card or food for work program? Hunger is maddening and unemployment fatal. Don’t we know how booze, money and gifts can get votes during election in India? Data driven marketing is just another tool among the vast array to influence consumers or voters to have a positive opinion about an offer in the market. Narender Modi as Hindu Hero has been sold to almost one third of India and 70 percent of Hindus by the mainstream media not which is owned by RSS inclined Hindus. Digital media may had one tenth of impact as mainstream media in the 2014 win of modi. Did you ever come across any journo or channel critical of dangers of a Hindu Rashtar? 

Never. Some political science puritans and academics keep worrying about an ideal world where people could live freely but that’s nothing but an utopia. If Trump had engaged Cambridge Analytica to collect data and use it to market his campaign in an open manner then it was no crime. Similarly if Narender or Rahul use their app to collect info of Indians to send them their messages it’s a fair game. Facebook and Twitter are media firms and like their ilk the brick & mortar avatar they wouldn’t mind maximizing their profitability at any cost. To all those who balk at involvement of foreign hands in their national affairs I would ask think again and note how their lives in India are directly controlled by other govts. Indian subcontinent has never been really free like USA and you know how expensive freedom is. Let’s worry about how to take India towards freedom than worry about use of digital tools for effective political marketing.