In the Indian General Elections 2009, BJP is all set to make full use of internet and open source technologies in its election campaign. This week, BJP has published its IT Vision document. In the document, the party has made big promises for IT community of India. After coming back to power, BJP will actively promote open source software and internet telephony in all the government departments. Moreover, the party has promised one crore laptops to students, for this it would spend Rs 10,000 cr on buying top-of-the-line laptops with open source software. The party’s prime ministerial candidate L K Advani, while unveiling the party’s IT vision document ahead of the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, said if the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is voted to power then it would use Information Technology as an important tool to bring about drastic change in major fields like education and public health care.

“We welcome the IT vision of one of India’s significant political parties. We believe the policy will help in improving IT industry in India through adoption of open standards and promotion of domestic web hosting industry. We hope other political parties will follow suit.” Sun Microsystem’s country director Jaijit Bhattacharya

Some of the key points of BJP’s IT vision document are as follows ::

• Broadband Internet (2 Mbps) in every town and village, at cable TV prices (at prices less than Rs 200/month).
• 10 million students to get laptop computers at Rs 10,000. Interest-free loan for anyone who is unable to afford it.
• All schools and colleges to have Internet-enabled education and labs.
• Every BPL family to be given a free smart mobile phone, which can be used by even illiterate users for accessing their bank accounts.
• Video conferencing to be made affordable and universally accessible.
• Primary Health Centre in every village to be linked to the National Telemedicine Service Network. Basic health insurance scheme for every citizen, using the IT platform. Cashless hospitalization.
• All post offices to be converted into IT-enabled Multi-Service Outlets. All telephone booths to be upgraded to Internet kiosks.
• Citizens will have a simple 1-800 BSNL Toll Free Number, which will be accessible 24×7x 365 days of the year, to contact their Member of Parliament.
• e-Bhasha: National Mission for Promotion of IT in Indian Languages.
• An independent body, Digital Security Agency (DSA), to be set up for cyber warfare, cyber counter-terrorism, and cyber security of national digital assets.

This is the new IT Slogan by BJP for the coming General Elections.

Har Hindustani ka bank khaata;
Har BPL parivar ko smart phone
Har gaon mein broadband suvidha;
Har school mein Internet shiksha;
Sabko rozgaar; Shaasan Janata ke dwaa

The official website of L K Advani is using Joomla, the dynamic portal engine and an open source content management system. Also, it is using Google Adwords for its advertisement and marketing. I am really very happy to see Indian politicians using latest open source technologies, internet marketing tools for promoting their election campaign. I think, this is the main reason why BJP is promoting open source technologies.