The NaMo smartphone app is proving to be a big political weapon for the BJP in the run-up to the Lok Sabha election. The Party used it to perform a large-scale poll to determine the support of its sitting members, to distribute tickets, to delegate assignments to its members online instead of sending physical letters and circulars, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s direct contact with members, and also to receive donations online from as little as Rs 5 and to sell Modi-branded crores worth goods.
With more than 10 million downloads since its introduction less than four years ago, the PM’s official smartphone app has been a transparent forum aimed at ensuring large-scale citizen participation, first-hand reviews and a workflow framework for party members. Responses from nearly 650,000 people across 502 electoral districts, with the largest representation of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, to the ‘People’s Pulse’ survey on the app offered crucial feedback to the BJP in finalizing its candidates for the elections.
The lesser-known reality of the app is a closed group that sends online tasks to BJP staff around the country and monitors their progress via the app.
