State Assembly Elections are going on and we are eagerly waiting for the next years Lok Sabha Election, to add up our election fever Google India has launched an Indian elections portal (www.google.co.in/elections) that will provide voters access to every buzz related to elections and politics. The new initiative from Google India will help Indian voters to understand the electoral process, get access to all the news related to elections and politics and get detailed information on specific political parties.
Google Indian elections portal offers contents in both English and Hindi language. Currently the portal serves as a single place for all election related news, videos and other voting related informative resources. It now offers extensive new reports and videos related to the recent state elections for Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Mizoram. It also covers all related news from the major political parties in the states. Google has also partnered with various India news channels like NDTV, Times Now, Headlines Today etc, to offer content through YouTube.
Google also provided links to Hangouts done by political representatives in the recent past which include the discussion on ‘Future of IT and Communications in India’ with Milind Deora, Future of Higher Education in India with Dr. Shashi Tharoor, discussion on Highway Safety with Dr. CP Joshi and the Budget Hangout with Finance Minister of India P Chidambaram.
In addition to the real-time new reports, the portal will also offer information to users on how to register for voting along with a section on frequently asked questions around voting and registration.
“Our intent is to empower voters with all the information they need at a single destination for upcoming general elections. Over time we will add more functionality to enable users to interact and engage with the candidates, so that they are not simply watching from afar, but participating in, engaging with and shaping the political process in a democratic way.“says Chetan Krishnaswamy, Head of Public Policy and Government Relations, Google India in Google India blog.
Recently social media giant Facebook partnered with Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) to offer ‘Know Your Neta’ USSD based service that provides voters with up-to-date candidates’ information to help them make a correct decision on who will rule the country.