Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
Technology
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Internet
Entertainment
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Environment
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
India leaders blog, text to plug in to young voters
Tue Mar 17, 2009 4:32am EDT
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Rina Chandran
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Video clips on YouTube, updates on Facebook, blogs, and an online voter registration campaign.
Welcome to a newly-wired India, where political parties are using text messages to send updates and leaders are sprucing up their pages on social networking sites in an effort to connect with the country's growing young and plugged-in generation.
With nearly 700 million people eligible to cast their votes in an April and May general election, the ruling Congress party and the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are devoting more time to first-time voters and the tech-savvy middle class.
The reasons are not hard to find: a booming economy that grew at about 9 percent in the last three years encouraged rapid penetration of Internet and mobile phone ownership, giving politicians tools to connect with even far-flung areas.
"We have 100 million first-time voters in the age group 18-24, and they are all most likely connected via the Internet and mobile phones," said Diptarup Chakraborti, a principal research analyst at Gartner consultancy.
Now, after a successful presidential campaign by a youthful, tech-savvy Barack Obama, as well as the Mumbai attacks last November, a groundswell of activism and political awareness among the youth is apparent, particularly in the cities.
Both Congress and the BJP's prime ministerial candidates are elderly, but that has not stopped the parties from reaching out to the youth, using text messages, campaign tunes and videos.
L.K. Advani, the iPhone-carrying, 81-year-old leader of Hindu nationalist BJP, has posted his own blog (http://blog.lkadvani.in).
"In my own political life spanning six decades, I have enthusiastically embraced every new communication technology -- from the early simple Casio digital diary to iPod and iPhone," he wrote in a blog that drew more than 100 comments.
BJP teams have made YouTube campaign videos and their election offices in New Delhi are packed with youngsters glued to computer screens to update campaign websites.
"There are emotional and functional reasons for using technology: functionally, it is more cost-effective and more participative than say, a rally or an advertisement," said Kiran Khalap, co-founder of brand consultancy Chlorophyll.
"And emotionally, they want to be like the cool urban youth they want to connect with," he said.
A YOUNG GANDHI
The BJP's main competitor for the youth vote may be Rahul Gandhi, 38, son of Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi and head of the party's youth wing. He is tech-savvy, and has been doing the rounds of colleges, mingling with students and posing for pictures taken on camera phones.
Gandhi has thousands of supporters on Facebook and his portrait dominates many election billboards, even though it is Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, 76, who is the party's candidate for the top job. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
Yahoo!
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
India leaders blog, text to plug in to young voters
also on reuters
Blog: Tired of paying high prices? See your butcher
Video
Video: Elvis memories for sale target businesses
A few states buck stem cell trend with bans
More Technology News
Dell unveils world's thinnest laptop
Nokia to cut 1,700 jobs in sinking phone market
| Video
Hearst prints final Seattle PI
Elvis memorabilia offered in online auction
| Video
Japanese fashion robot to hit Tokyo catwalks
More Technology News...
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
White House ridicules Cheney over criticism of Obama
China's last eunuch spills sex secrets
"Family Guy" wins court battle over song
Fossil sea monster's bite makes T-Rex look feeble
Grassley to AIG execs: Resign or commit suicide
Chuck Norris sues, says his tears no cancer cure
Citi, Morgan Stanley look to sidestep bonus caps: report | Video
A few U.S. states buck stem cell trend with bans | Video
China's last eunuch spills sex secrets
U.S. housing starts rebound
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Madagascar army seizes presidency
A "Reset" - or new Cold War?
Madagascar coup claim countered
Boss that robot around
Tanks take Madagascar palace
"Nano-vehicles" to target cancer
Elvis memories for sale
AIG outrgage
Shuttle blasts off for space station
Sudan to 'expel all aid groups'
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
Reuters Deals
The global destination for corporate leaders, deal-makers and innovators
Knowledge to Act
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Interactive TV |
Labs |
Reuters in Second Life |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.