Internet politics: Making it to VIP list

Ever since Barack Obama added the words ���tech savvy��� to the list of firsts that he has notched up on his historic journey to the White House, suddenly the email list on his Blackberry has become the new social register.

It���s a telling commentary on the arrival of the email age that more than invitations to a White House meal, a pow-wow at Camp David or even a fast workout in the presidential gym, it is the US President���s inbox that signifies who really is ���in���. It���s said that besides his wife, maybe daughters, vice president Joe Biden and his close aides like Rahm Emmanuel and David Axelrod, there are barely a handful of other people who have that privilege.

Arguably, Obama���s elite email list can be compared in India only to Rahul Gandhi���s cellphone and email address, and he certainly has been photographed often tapping away on his mobile keyboard. The list of Facebook friends of J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah ��� who once had an email query he sent to a bureaucrat return to him as fat file during his stint as a central minister ��� is also a coveted collective. And both are as fiercely guarded prizes of the few who have them as Obama���s is in the US.

Of course, there is heartburn that Obama@TheWhiteHouse is not as accessible or connected with the wider ��� and younger ��� American public as he was on the campaign trail, but that���s the downside of occupying the hotseat at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. His move for mass contact via the internet, however, has blazed a trail for politicians seeking a broader appeal.

Octogenarian L K Advani has launched an electronic Sampark Yatra, so to speak, by starting a blog ahead of the general elections; it will not be long before others across the political spectrum follow suit. Even so, just having a top Indian politician���s email address or mobile number is not enough, as most of them do not access them personally anyway. In the Indian context, far more important is a line to the Rahm Emmanuels of the desi durbars, for we all know the aide who holds Mantriji���s Blackberry rules the world.