SAD steps up cyber campaign

Emails from Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal start with a greeting,“Wahe Guruji Ka Khalsa,Wahe Guruji Ki Fateh!” Then,with a personal touch from Sukhbir,“I am writing this letter to share with you the revolutionary steps in the power sector that our SAD-BJP coalition government has undertaken to usher in a new era of progress in Punjab. Setting up power projects to generate 9,414 MW with an investment of Rs 50,000 crore.” Then the details of all the four thermal power projects and other initiatives taken are mentioned in the letter.

It concludes by stating,“As you can see we have taken these path-breaking steps in the power sector to ensure that you will get adequate,uninterrupted electricity for the next 25 years. With all these efforts of our government,Punjab shall not only be self sufficient in the power sector but also be able to generate revenue by selling power. With your support and blessings,we shall ensure the successful and timely implementation of these initiatives.’’ Likewise,letters highlighting the governments development in the sectors of education,infrastructure,employment and other areas have been written.

A Delhi-based company hired by the party sent some 12 lakh e-mails containing these letters while receiving some 1,000 replies daily. These are forwarded to the party’s war room in Chandigarh. These replies are then analysed and the poll strategy is modified accordingly.

The party has also tied up with Google so that everytime a user searches the terms ‘Punjab’,‘Punjab development’ or ‘Akali Dal’,he/she are shown the party’s advertisement. Already,some 12 lakh people have seen this advertisement and of these,around 70,000 have visited the party’s website in the last 30 days. As one clicks on the advertisement,the SAD website opens up.

Also around 91 videos of Sukhbir Singh Badal have been uploaded on You Tube. These show development with two-minute bitesize videos of Sukhbir inaugurating various kendras and projects.

This is not all,Sukhbir’s Facebook page describes him as “a visionary leader who has ushered in an era of progress and prosperity in Punjab. He has brought in large development projects and implemented governance reforms which will directly impact Punjabis’ lives.’’ If one further clicks on the achievements,the Facebook page is connected to the party website.