Silicon Valley Indian techies build online platform for AAP

Indian techies in the US have built what they call a "game changer" "Next Generation" technology platform to raise online donations for the Aam Aadmi Party for India's upcoming parliamentary elections.

Launched on Holi day, the online "my.aamaadmiparty.org" platform raised a record Rs.5.5 million (nearly $90,000) in online donations on the very first day, according to the party's US spokesman, Pran Kurup, himself a Valley-based techie.

"The unique one of its kind technology platform is expected to be a game changer this election as it would enable AAP to tap the groundswell of enthusiasm and support that already exists in its favour," he said.

Those who want to help the AAP can simply join my.aamadmiparty.org using their Google, Yahoo!, Facebook, or Live accounts, AAP's US unit said.

They can donate, reach out and invite their friends and acquaintances to become part of the network. They can also track donations of their personal network, it said.

Each AAP supporter can track how many people in their network donated to AAP and what amounts they donated.

They can also permit AAP to post on their respective Twitter and Facebook pages on their behalf.

"Today we are using technology to tap into support base and further extend it to leverage people's personal network of friends and acquaintances," said Ravi Sharma, an AAP volunteer and architect of the platform.

"The idea is very simple but yet extremely powerful and can have far reaching implications purely because of the network effect it can unleash," he said.

"The platform is really our next generation product as it lays the groundwork for some great future enhancements," said Mohan Thirumalai of the AAP IT team.

With the growth of the internet and a global interest in the AAP, the plethora of social networks and related technologies, positively leveraging these various avenues is a great challenge faced by political parties, he said.