Rahul Gandhi Turns to Big Data and Project Shakti to Take On Modi in 2019

Congress president Rahul Gandhi is relying on big data to strengthen his party’s weak booth-level organisation ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election. In February he was shown an analysis suggesting that better management of polling booths alone could have raised the party’s vote share by 4%, and lifted its 2014 tally of 44 seats to at least 90.

What Project Shakti is

Gandhi then set up a team of data analysts led by political economist Praveen Chakravarty, which became the AICC’s Data Analytics Department. It created “Project Shakti”, an internal digital platform meant to connect every Congress worker in the country with the party president. The platform works as a database, a way to communicate, a feedback and appraisal tool and a means of polling workers. The AICC can message workers in a specific booth or district, or seek the views of a state’s workers on decisions under consideration.

Rollout

Shakti began as a pilot in Rajasthan in April. AICC general secretary in charge of the state, Avinash Pande, said more than 5.5 lakh workers had enrolled there. The platform was then extended to nine more states, and the party says over 25 lakh workers are now on it. Members send their voter ID numbers by SMS; once verified, they receive a welcome message from Rahul Gandhi and are asked to take up a role in their district.

Why the party says it needs it

Congress leaders called it an overdue start, saying the party lost Gujarat despite favourable issues because of BJP chief Amit Shah’s booth management, including “page pramukhs”. Chakravarty said the work was far from over. “To win an election, you need to know who your workers are,” he said.

What happened next

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election the Congress won 52 of the 543 seats, while the BJP won 303.

See also: Indian National Congress

Originally published on 21 August 2018. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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