Left gets IT right for campaigning

If the BJP at the Centre is surprising the electorate with recorded messages from the Prime Minister, the CPIM in West Bengal isn8217;t f...

If the BJP at the Centre is surprising the electorate with recorded messages from the Prime Minister, the CPIM in West Bengal isn8217;t far behind. Mobile users in the state will soon find themselves bombarded with text messages urging them to vote for the Left party. The Students8217; Federation of India SFI, the party8217;s students wing, is going to launch CDs and audio cassettes as well. 8216;8216;Though we believe there is nothing better than direct contact with people, we do not want to lag behind in the age of IT,8217;8217; said SFI8217;s state unit chief Sudip Sengupta.

8216;8216;Around 600,000 people across the state use cellphones and we want to reach out to them with SMS. We expect to finalise a deal with service providers in a couple of days,8217;8217; he said. 8216;8216;Our CDs will have speeches of our leaders besides other content which is being finalised,8217;8217; he said.

SFI state unit secretary Apurba Chatterjee said audio cassettes have been recorded with songs by eminent singers like Srikanta Acharya and Kabir Suman. 8216;8216;The cassette will start with a speech by former CM Jyoti Basu and will contain patriotic and other songs. We have prepared 25,000 such cassettes which will be sold all over the state,8217;8217; he said.

The SFI will also distribute open letters that will 8216;8216;expose8217;8217; the hollowness of the BJP8217;s 8216;India Shining8217; campaign and urge the electorate to vote for Left Front candidates. 8216;8216;This open letter will also mention our website so that students can access it,8217;8217; Chatterjee said.

The SFI has units in 322 colleges and universities,and they have been told to organise rallies and door-to-door campaigns all over the state.

The Democratic Youth Federation of India DYFI, the CPM8217;s youth wing, is also putting its organisational strength behind the CPM. 8216;8216;We have set up 20-member booth committees across the state and are organising rallies and padyatras,8217;8217; said its leader Somasubhra Gupta.