Obama effect on Advani146;s website

After a website on his book My Country My Life, BJP prime ministerial candidate L K Advani will unveil a personalised, interactive website that the BJP has described as the 8220;country8217;s largest political website8221;.

After a website on his book My Country My Life, BJP prime ministerial candidate L K Advani will on Saturday unveil a personalised, interactive website that the BJP has described as the 8220;country8217;s largest political website8221;.

Impressed with Barack Obama8217;s ability to use the Internet as an effective campaign tool, Advani8217;s campaign managers have incorporated features from barackobama.com in Advani8217;s site 8212; lkadvani.in. While the Internet penetration and tele-density here may be insignificant when compared to the corresponding figures in the USA, the BJP, nevertheless, hopes to use the Internet as a tool to target Young India that will have a decisive say in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.

A dedicated blog on the site will encourage 8220;a free flow of views8221; on issues ranging from economy to defence. The website, having sections in English and Hindi, will ask the users to send in their feedback and suggestions, some of which could be incorporated into the party8217;s election manifesto. The website would also invite volunteers to work for Advani and the party.

Aiming to be the first off the block on every nugget on Advani8217;s campaign, the site hopes to make conventional campaign tools redundant. 8220;Whether it8217;s press releases, or videos; campaign schedules or speeches, the Advani site will be most comprehensive. A search engine will facilitate the user8217;s search on every aspect of Advani8217;s life and politics,8221; said a BJP leader. The site has about 150 videos and 700 pages of text, including speeches and interviews.

In an obvious attempt to target the youth, the site8217;s homepage has pictures of Advani interacting with youth representatives and N R Narayanmurthy releasing the Kannada edition of Advani8217;s memoirs, My Country My Life.