Setting a new trend in the selection of candidates for Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies, the TDP has unveiled a massive exercise for eliciting choice of voters in their respective constituencies.
The TDP had tied-up with Telecom major Tata Group which will deploy the interactive voice response system (IVRS) for taking the views of voters, suggesting the prospective candidates in a particular constituency. The IVRS, the first of its kind exercise in the country as claimed by TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu, will require 13,000 dedicated lines, with each call costing about 33 paise.
Mr. Naidu said the system had been designed in such a way that even illiterates could name their choice of the candidates in their respective constituencies with a press of the button. “If they are satisfied with one or other candidates in the message I (Mr. Naidu) read out, it is fine. But voters will have the option of recording their choice if they feel that the list of candidates is not to their satisfaction,” he said.
The TDP had gathered information about 8.3 crore mobile users from different operators and the trial run to target the messages of a particular constituency to that particular voters has been proved accurate in 70 per cent of the cases.
The opinion gathered from voters would be made tamper proof as it would be hosted online and the TDP had taken precautions in the event of a section of sympathisers of the rival parties misleading the party.
“We have no doubt deployed the IVRS mode, but we will make sure that the views of the cadre and the random surveys conducted by the party are also integrated into the set up,” he said.
The TDP planned to launch a campaign about the intentions behind launching such technology-driven system to enhance the success rate of the selection and wanted the people to volunteer in selecting candidates of their choice without rejecting the call.
