If IT is increasingly going to be the decider of future poll wars, how political are the men and women in front of the monitors?
‘‘Online campaigns alone cannot bring the IT and ITes employees to the polling booths. Young voters usually abhor politicians,” says Navya Haridas, a software engineer in Hyderabad who quit her job and is now contesting as a BJP candidate to the Kozhikode Corporation council.
'They need not be apolitical'
Soorya P., a TCS employee at Infopark, says that just because IT professionals are not seen much in political debates does not mean that they are apolitical.
“We discuss in our space whether it’s in the Facebook or WhatsApp or among us during lunch breaks. We have clear perceptions about politics and elections,” she said.
Sanjay Vijayakumar, chairman of Kochi’s Startup Village, however, observed a certain disconnect at some level. The dominant political discourse does not often throw up topics of great relevance to IT professionals. For instance, a debate on Net neutrality or development-oriented posts in the social media really enthuse them but not the sound and fury of routine politics. ‘‘They are excited about the future and not about harking back to the past,” he said.
Arun K.V. of CAT Entertainment, a startup which works out of Startup Village, said that political debate, though not of the analytical kind, often brings the political inclinations among them to the fore.
“Being masters of our own destiny unlike IT professionals who work for others, I believe that political consciousness is more among startup operators,” he said.
A.D. Jayan, State general secretary of the CITU-affiliated Association of IT Employees, said that the presence of four of association office-bearers in the fray is a harbinger of things to come. “Trade unions are no longer untouchable for IT professionals and in the not-so-distant future more may join mainstream politics,” he predicted.
