Indian Voters go Online

India is turning to the Internet as general elections approach, but it is not political parties or the main candidates in the world's biggest democracy that are embracing the likes of Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and YouTube to swell coffers and boost support.

While the ruling Congress and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party stick to largely traditional campaigning for now, tech-savvy groups are targeting the growing- and potentially influential- middle classes on the worldwide web.

"A lot of people have seen the change in the US since the elections and made them realise that they can actually do something," said Shridhar Jagannathan, a 30-year-old copywriter involved in the non-partisan www.voteindia.in website.

"It was the literate middle class that brought the change. What happened in the US has inspired people in India to go out and make a difference."

India has some 714 million eligible voters, including 170 million under 35, but unlike in developed countries, it is the marginalised rural poor who vote in the biggest numbers, often along caste, regional or religious lines.

In contrast, many of the English-speaking middle and upper classes readily admit to having never voted, yet still complain loudly about standards of leadership and governance.

According to a recent Times of India survey, most Indians (83 percent) feel lawmakers are corrupt and 59 percent think their main motivation is money.

Nearly three-quarters (72 percent) believe politicians are inefficient and 60 percent blame them for all the country's ills.

"Bad politicians are chosen by good people, who fail to vote," says Vote India. Its message is echoed by others like the Tata Tea-backed www.jaagore.com - all Indians need to take responsibility for their elected representatives.

According to Jagannathan, campaigners can help improve standards by targeting the 60 percent of Internet users who live in India's eight largest cities using easily available technology.

The site's creators say they were shocked at the lack of awareness among educated urban dwellers about the democratic process, despite India's diverse, vocal media and growing 24-hour news culture.

At the last nationwide vote in 2004, about a quarter of the 543 members elected to India's lower house of parliament faced criminal charges, including murder, kidnap and rape.

"Our concern is that good governance should come in by increasing the number of votes and more importantly, the quality of votes."

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