MAM
LS elections: Mumbai shows the finger
MUMBAI: It’s been 20 days since the largest democracy in the world started polling. Half of the country has already undergone the process while a few more wait eagerly to get inked.
These elections unlike the others in the past are different. Thanks to the role media played this time around. Political parties of course didn’t leave any medium to woo people to vote for them. From television to online, their presence was and still is everywhere. What is more interesting is that even television channels – general entertainment as well as youth – along with print told people to step out and vote.
In the sixth phase of polling, Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, was supposed to make a difference. Today almost 18 crore voters from whooping 117 constituencies, which comprised 11 states and one Union Territory went out for polling.
While Bihar witnessed 60 per cent voter turnout, Jharkhand-63.4 per cent, Madhya Pradesh-63 per cent, Assam-71 per cent, Puducherry-82 per cent, West Bengal- 81.42 per cent, Uttar Pradesh-58 per cent, Rajasthan-59 per cent, Chhatisgarh-65 per cent and Tamil Nadu saw a 73 per cent voter turnout. The six constituencies of Mumbai witnessed the lowest voter turnout amongst the lot- 53.1 per cent.
And this after all the efforts taken by both the television channels and the brands, who went out and out to woo the voters of the city.
While the celebrities stepped out of their comfort zones and happily got clicked with their inked fingers, it was the common man of the city, who did not show up in the polling booth, and not like it was expected. The only saving grace, that by the end of the day, the city had recorded a 53.1 per cent voting turnout.
Looks like in the city of dreams, many didn’t want to wake up from their sleep and go out in the scorching heat. And this, even after most companies including a few media houses were shut as it wanted people to vote.
Though, many in the city may rejoice over the better performance as compared to the last Lok Sabha polls, reality is that an even better voter turnout was expected from the city. And it is perhaps, the lowest amongst the states that have cast their votes so far.
Somehow the city and its citizens that don’t get tired of cribbing, doesn’t cast its vote. The reason (educated) some feel is that what difference will it make? For them, the policies made by the government are made for the poor and the rich and the middle class is bound to suffer no matter who comes to power.
While there are still a few who want to vote but couldn’t find their names in the list. They are tired of the officials and the process. A few also feel that at least in Mumbai, the political connect is missing. “The old style of campaigning has been taken over by twitter and electronic media, and so that personal touch is missing,” says an executive from the media house, who couldn’t vote since his name was not in the list.
In fact if a few have to be believed, one entire housing society, which comprises some 8,000 plus houses in the North West part of Mumbai, could not find their names in the voting list. “They have lost so many votes by this,” adds a source from the industry.
But at least some did go out and get inked.
When we contacted RK Swamy BBDO chairman & MD, Srinivasan K Swamy, he said, “Yes, I did vote. I got to understand that many names were taken off the voter list from various booths. These were people who have voted in the past. Though they had their voter’s ID card they weren’t allowed to cast their vote.”
Colors CEO Raj Nayak too showed off his inked finger but feels that today people have become insensitive and selfish. “It’s all about ‘I, me, myself’. They won’t make the effort to vote but then they will be laid back and criticise the government. I don’t think any other country in the world can have such a smooth process of voting such as in India. The staff is courteous and the police do their job well. It hardly takes time to go and cast your vote!”
Curry-Nation founder Priti Nair mentioned, “Frankly, I thought there was huge buzz about voting this time and genuinely thought a lot more professionals are all enthusiastic about voting. I am quite shocked at this turn out.”
DDB MudraMax OOH, Retail and Experiential president Mandeep Malhotra said, “Yes I did cast my vote and I am really sad on the turnout. While Bollywood and cricket celebrities did show up on the polling booth, where were the others? It is sad to see that this is how the city responds to a once in a five year event.”
Samyak Chakravarthy of Operation Black Dot feels that though slowly the turnout did improve but the youth turnout was still less in comparison to the total size of electorate per booth, “and this is worrisome.”
He along with his team through the initiative Operation Black Dot tried motivating people, especially the youngsters to go and fulfill their duty. Many youth icons too supported the initiative.
May be the next time the city goes out for voting, more push and initiatives will be needed to get the city voting: How about taking the electoral machine to each house? Is the Election Commission listening?
Brands
Zscaler, Airtel launch India AI Cyber Research Centre
New hub to boost cyber resilience and trusted AI use
NEW DELHI: As India’s digital engine roars ahead, so do the risks riding shotgun. In response, Zscaler, Inc. and Bharti Airtel have joined hands to launch the AI and Cyber Threat Research Center – India, a national initiative aimed at strengthening the country’s cyber defences and accelerating responsible AI adoption.
The centre is designed as a multi stakeholder platform that brings together industry, government and academia. Its mission is clear: protect critical sectors such as telecom, banking and energy, shield everyday digital users, and future proof India’s fast expanding online ecosystem.
India has long been a major innovation hub for Zscaler, with a substantial portion of its cyber research talent based here. With this new centre, that footprint evolves into a national collaboration engine. The idea is simple but ambitious, build in India, for India, and help power the country’s journey towards a secure and digitally self reliant future.
The timing is telling. India is building digital systems at population scale, not just enterprise scale. That scale has widened the attack surface dramatically. At the same time, cyber criminals and nation state actors are deploying AI to scan, probe and exploit vulnerabilities in minutes.
Zscaler’s research arm, ThreatLabz India, reports millions of infiltration attempts every month. These include espionage campaigns linked to regional geopolitical tensions, 1.2 million intrusion attempts from 20,000 sources targeting 58 Indian digital entities, and a rise in zero day exploit attempts across multiple industries.
In such an environment, perimeter based security models are struggling to keep pace. The new centre aims to push a shift towards secure by design systems and Zero Trust architecture.
Its strategy rests on four pillars: protect through real time intelligence, remediate by working directly with government agencies, facilitate adoption of AI driven security and Zero Trust frameworks, and build a stronger cybersecurity talent pipeline through specialised certifications.
As founding members, Zscaler and Airtel will combine global threat intelligence with local network visibility. Zscaler will deploy a dedicated India focused research team and draw insights from its Zero Trust Exchange platform, which processes over 500 billion daily transactions worldwide. Airtel, meanwhile, will contribute deep visibility into IoT and mobile traffic, helping detect suspicious activity faster and coordinate response across the ecosystem.
Bharti Airtel executive vice chairman Gopal Vittal, said the partnership extends Airtel’s commitment to safeguarding customers and the nation’s digital fabric. He added that the collaboration would address challenges unique to the Indian market and encourage secure and confident digital engagement.
Zscaler chief executive, chairman and founder Jay Chaudhry, said India’s digital ambition cannot be secured with legacy firewalls and VPNs. He noted that a modern Zero Trust architecture is essential for a hyper connected world and that the new centre would harness the scale of Zscaler’s global security cloud while empowering a new generation of Indian cyber defenders.
Additional members from critical public and private sectors are expected to join the initiative in the coming months, expanding its scope and deepening collaboration.
In a world where threats travel at machine speed, India’s answer is to think faster, collaborate wider and build smarter.
