Jayalalithaa's handpicked K Swaminathan to push party agenda on Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp

CHENNAI: Last November, a Pakistani cyber attack group calling itself the Pakistan Haxors Crew chose to display its hacking prowess by defacing, for some inexplicable reason, the website of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).

“We Are PHC (PAKISTAN HAXORS CREW) We Just Want Justice & Peace,” the hackers proclaimed on the site, where they also posted anti-India messages. This episode alerted the AIADMK, headed by Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, on the need to revamp its online security and strategy. Also, with the looming general election it was about time the party had a social media strategy going.

The person Jayalalithaa handpicked to deliver on these fronts was K Swaminathan, a serial entrepreneur and alumnus of IIM-Bangalore. Swaminathan, who launched India’s first e-learning portal eGurucool.com that was sold to NIIT in 2001, was named the secretary of IT wing created by Jayalaithaa last month. He has the mandate to revamp the website, take steps to prevent cyber attacks and also push the party’s agenda on social media like Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp.

“SMS (short text messages) and online campaign are going to be the key in this election because young voters are going to be the decisive force,” says MJ Xavier, executive director at Vellore-based VIT and a former director of IIM Ranchi, who is a close friend of Swaminathan.

“The challenge he (Swaminathan) is going to face in this new avatar is there are going to be lot of factors not in his control.” But that is not likely to faze 39-year-old Swami, as he is known to friends, who displayed his entrepreneurial skills and risk-taking attitude right from his salad days.

Born in a middle-class family, Swami set up a lending library called “Friends and Pals” while studying in class seven. While delivering books during Diwali he noticed he could make money selling fireworks. So, he went to the wholesale market in Parry’s Corner in Chennai and bought fireworks which he sold for a neat profit. Today, at AIADMK, he heads a team of 60 that gives regular updates on the revamped website on the party’s initiatives.

Members also accompany Jayalalithaa on her campaign tours and post her speeches on the site. “Today, youngsters look at their smart phones first even before brushing their teeth,” said a senior party member who did not want to be identified. “Also, these are people who do not come to election meetings but would like to watch the speeches on Youtube and other online channels. The idea is to tap them.”