AAP hurries to put systems in place

Gearing up for a fight on the national stage, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is plugging the gaps it observed during the party’s launchpad battle in Delhi. It hopes to contest its debut Lok Sabha election in as many as 20 states.

The party says it will create multiple databases for access by volunteers and party workers from all states. "We are putting systems in place as quickly as possible. AAP is growing at a pace faster than any other start-up," said a party worker involved in the process.

At present, AAP has units in 20 states. As it takes the national ground, the party is examining what blend of tools and technology would work in both rural and urban parts.

"We have to make the campaign scalable, to be able to not only get volunteers but also manage them," said a source, who did not wish to be named. The party member told Business Standard that, for instance, Delhi was a smaller unit. When there was a system crash, one could travel to parts of the city and fix it. This wouldn’t be that simple elsewhere.

 The party is putting in place a mechanism where volunteers can work with data locally. It is also in the process of developing mobile applications, where people would be able to register their friends and colleagues and use data in offline mode.

The success of the Delhi Assembly elections has attracted thousands of people to join as members and volunteers. AAP has initiated its first membership drive, Mai Bhi Aam Aadmi, from January 10-26, with a target of 10 million members nationally. A volunteer management process and booth-level mapping would be established.

"A portal for volunteers would help them look into the information, change their location and preference of work and help the party shoulder responsibilities in their key areas of expertise," said a party source.

A booth-mapping system would help the new members identify members registered in a constituency and help the party in knowing potential supporters among voters.