Kozhikode: A group of youths claiming to be former associates of poll guru Prashant Kishor has a different take on the coming Assembly poll and has found a space for a professional polling agency in Kerala. The Kannur- based youths have been working under the Kerala wing of ‘Chanakya Centre for Social Planning and Educational Trust of India,’ a New-Delhi based NGO.
“We hope that the young generation will have a different view on electioneering. The way of presenting a candidate or reaching his messages is vital,” says Adil Sadiq, a poll strategist of the group. The team is conducting a preliminary survey in Uduma and Kannur constituencies to find out which is safer for Mr K. Sudhakaran, Congress leader.
“Social media is important. Digital campaign, ground-level survey, outdoor media campaign, designing slogans and war rooms are many of the key areas where we focus on,” he added.
The campaign modes will be decided according to the constituency and the electorate. Another poll strategist of the team, Noushan Kunjabdulla, had worked with Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), an election campaign group started by Prashant Kishor in 2015.
The members gained confidence to launch a poll agency after the successful social media campaign for Mr P.K. Ragesh, the Congress rebel candidate who won in the recent local body poll to Kannur corporation. “I had entrusted my election campaign on the social media to the team and it played an important role to get me new generation votes,” Mr Ragesh told Deccan Chronicle.
