Cambridge Analytica website even claimed to have helped its client (BJP-JDU alliance) to win Bihar Assembly elections in 2010.
With each passing day, the new revelations regarding the Facebook data theft are making the matter even murkier. Days after the Cambridge Analytica election rigging scam hit the Western world, back in India, the two national parties resorted to blame-game accusing each other of hiring the firm for their election campaign.
Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari yesterday in a press conference said that the Election Commission should look into the matter and conduct investigations whether any Indian political party has links with the firm. Hitting back at him, BJP fielded Union IT and Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad who asked Rahul Gandhi to clarify whether his increased social media activity is due to the interference of Cambridge Analytica.
#CambridgeAnalytica “successfully managed four election campaigns for BJP” including @narendramodi’s 2014 win. BBC quotes a Himanshu Sharma as India vice-president. His longest stints were at Airtel and “Ovleno”, a B2B “intelligence” firm that provides telecom “consultancy”. pic.twitter.com/yb165L9FbE
— churumuri (@churumuri) March 21, 2018
However, now new details have emerged that prove that BJP too might have had links with the infamous firm. Reportedly, Cambridge Analytica has an Indian Business arm called Ovelina Business Intelligence. The Indian firm is owned by JD(U) leader KC Tyagi’s son Amrish Tyagi.
The company which boasted of undertaking “election campaign management” had set up a firm named SCL India. This firm was set up with the parent company of Cambridge Analytica-SCL group.
However, hours after the row hit India, OBI pulled down its website. The Client section of the website though boasted of helping the campaigns of JD(U) and BJP during the Delhi Assembly elections and Bihar Assembly elections. Cambridge Analytica website even claimed to have helped its client to win Bihar Assembly elections in 2010. It further mentioned, “Our client achieved a landslide victory, with over 90 percent of total seats targeted by CA being won.”
Here are screenshots of LinkedIn page of Director of Cambridge Analytica's Indian arm, saying "managed 4 elections successfully for BJP", "helped achieve mission 272." @BJP4India: response please? pic.twitter.com/NaxNJJdzzb
— Sreenivasan Jain (@SreenivasanJain) March 21, 2018
Himanshu Sharma of Ovleno which is a sister concern of Cambridge Analytica is scrubbing his profile of links with BJP's Mission 272 but Internet doesn't forget. pic.twitter.com/IzzUqDoqwA
— Pratik Sinha (@free_thinker) March 21, 2018
As the news spread across Indian media like a wildfire, many of them dig out some information regarding the firm. NDTV journalist Sreenivasan Jain shared the picture of OBI director Himanshu Sharma’s LinkedIn profile. The profile boasts of “successfully managing four election campaign for the BJP in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Delhi.” The profile further adds, “Achieved target of mission 272+ by managing Call Centre management, project profiling of each and every volunteer and supporter who had extended their support to get involved in the mission 272+ by giving a missed call, SMS or WhatsApp to our single nation-wide toll-free number.” It also notes that the data was provided to each BJP candidate constituency-wise.
However, a screenshot of the client listed on the OBI website has emerged which shows Congress, JD(U) and BJP as their clients.
While the entire Cambridge Analytica incident has made us raise the question on the electoral process and intervention of the “election campaign managing” firms, the larger question still remains is our data even safe?
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