DMK mimics BJP’s digital drive, aims for 30 pc booth enrolment via app

The DMK, with its new membership drive titled ‘Oraniyil Tamil Nadu’ (Tamil Nadu under one roof), is mimicking the BJP’s 2014–2019 ground game.

DMK digital agents have been given the task of adding new members using a special app from July 1. The digital membership model, which was initially used by the BJP in northern India in 2014-2019 and gradually rolled out in Tamil Nadu as well, has now been adopted by the DMK.

Potential risks

In earlier initiatives like the BJP’s NaMo and Saral app, there were criticisms that the details collected in the app might breach privacy and that data could be used by third parties for analytics. Also, psephologists had pointed out that there are chances ghost registrations would inflate the numbers in the virtual world, without necessarily impacting voter behaviour during elections.

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BJP vs DMK on social media

A glance by The Federal at the follower strength of the BJP and the DMK on social media platforms like X (earlier Twitter) and Instagram shows that the saffron party puts on a mightier show than the DMK in the virtual world.

For example, on X, the official page of the DMK IT wing has just 3.2 lakh followers, whereas the Tamil Nadu unit of BJP has got 6.3 lakh followers. On Instagram handle, the DMK has just 1.1 lakh followers, while the BJP has 2.95 lakh followers. In the case of Facebook, the DMK has just 2.02 lakh followers, and the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP has garnered 11 lakh followers.

Copycat method: BJP

Senior leaders of the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP call the digital enrolment initiative of the DMK a copycat method. Narayanan Tirupathy, vice president and official spokesperson of the BJP in Tamil Nadu, was glad that at least now the Dravidian major had learnt the importance of digital outreach.

“We are happy at least now they are realising the importance of reaching young people through digital campaigns. We have close to 1,000 staff members in the party who focus only on digital platforms. Working for the party through a social platform is almost equal to working on the ground and showing strength. They are copying our format which we tried 10 years ago,” Narayanan told The Federal.

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We have strength on ground too, says DMK

Denying that the DMK is mimicking the digital initiative of the BJP, Rajiv Gandhi, spokesperson of the DMK, said his party has developed a foolproof method to enrol members who are potential voters in each booth and would not follow the saffron party’s methods.

“BJP might show a bigger strength online, but you can see the failure of BJP in each election in Tamil Nadu. But in our case, we evolve new strategies whenever needed. This time we want to use app along with door-to-door membership drive,’’ Rajiv told The Federal.

Explaining the strategy he said, “We would register 30 per cent of people in each polling booth as DMK members in this ‘Oraniyil Tamil Nadu’ membership drive. IT wing units functioning from different districts were grouped into 10 zones covering all 234 Assembly constituencies of Tamil Nadu. Zonal trainers and social media members from every booth in each constituency would help in enrolling new members for the party.”

No enrolment without consent: DMK

He recalled how the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP had tried a missed call initiative to boost its membership drive last year.

“Their party is known as the missed call party in Tamil Nadu. We are not creating fake numbers like them. Though enrollment is happening through the app, it doesn’t mean we would enrol a person without consent. We are doing the digital campaign after meeting people in a door-to-door campaign, so ours is a foolproof format,” he told The Federal.

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When asked about digital safety mechanisms in the app, he said the party’s app has advanced features and the data would not be shared with third parties.

‘Every subscriber may not be a voter’

Political analyst and psephologist Sanjay Kumar said that while digital numbers can look impressive, they often suffer from verification issues. Kumar, a professor and co-director of the Lokniti research program at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, has been studying Indian elections for three decades.

According to him, if an individual registers herself/himself on their own as a cadre in the app or website of the party, the chances of the person voting for that party are higher than in a focused approach by the party to enrol the member.

‘’When young people try their hands at enrolling themselves in the party, that shows their affinity towards the party. But what proportion of digital members would turn into voters is the question. We cannot say every subscriber and follower would become a voter,” he told The Federal.

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Underage, ghost members

He also pointed out that the app mechanism designed by parties should have an option to verify the age in a digital form. “There are chances that some minors can register in the app. There are possibilities that, to meet the target, party cadres might boost the membership drive by enrolling ghost members. If a person is interested in registering a verified form, that shows that he/she might vote for the party,” he said. He added that the success of this drive will depend not on sign-ups alone, but on whether these members actually translate into votes.