Times, trends and style have changed on the campaign front, which is strikingly apparent from how ‘vibes’ at the modern-day war rooms rule the sentiment while ‘bytes’ set the agenda. No more are war rooms a relic of the past when four worn-out chairs and a couple of run-down desks would set up the ‘committee office.’

And they are armed to the core - a high-speed internet connection, DSLR cameras, editing console, printing station, QR codes, and so on. The war rooms not only design the political game plans for the next day but also lays out digital strategies to track rival fronts and plot counter moves against them on a daily basis.

No more a single room

Unlike in the past, the war rooms do not any more operate the enforced confines of a single room. At least some have enough wherewithal to run their campaign from a central facility with multiple rooms and flaunts a corporate style about it. Of all the three fronts, the BJP-NDA is the most resourceful, and it shows.

Its war room headquartered on the arterial MG Road presents a picture straight out of an IT company replete with a decidedly corporate style. It has 10 rooms for several of its teams to work from and also a conference hall. The BJP-NDA candidate from Thiruvananthapuram Central has been allotted another room for himself.

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The other rooms are allotted for the computer/IT team, the digital media cell, and a separate social media cell. The party call centre and publicity team also operate from own rooms. A burly guard looks after the overall security aspects with a mandatory visitors’ book and a separate reception area thrown in.

Amit Shah’s managerial style

According to Chempazhanthi Udayan, who is in charge of the war room, these answer to the specifications of the managerial style popularised by Home Minister and former party president Amit Shah which has yielded maximum dividends. The campaign pivots itself on ‘Sakthi Kendras’ comprising five electoral booths each.

At another corner of the capital city, the outgoing CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front which bets on a return and second uninterrupted term in power, has its war room operating in Ambalamukku, not far from the city centre. Digital and print campaign material are prepared from here which boasts supporting IT infrastructure.

The war room is equipped with a digital platform that has fed in the telephone numbers of known LDF enthusiasts and sympathisers with campaigning messages flying thick and fast to them by WhatsApp. The war room also coordinates the functioning of 25 zonal election committees, a spokesman said.

Squads at work on ground

The district committee of the CPI(M) is represented in these zonal committees at the rate one for each six. At least four squads are at work for each electoral booth. SA Raja Lal, K Sasankan, MG Meenambika and Palayam Rajan, all district committee members, share the responsibilities of running the show at the war room.

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The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) operates its war room for the prestigious Nemom constituency at Poojappura, the farthest location from the city centre among the three. A computer cell operates from a corner which records the daily feedback from all 23 wards of the constituency.

Vital data fed into computer

Those in charge of each wars sends in the vital data every day which helps the computer cell to estimates the number of votes the UDF can expect from each, based on which the strategy for the next day is plotted. Three persons have been separately assigned the duty to work out the strategy in this manner.

The UDF candidate reaches the war room without fail every day irrespective of the unearthly hours that he might manage to find to show himself up and holds a review meeting. He goes through the feedback received on WhatsApp or via phone and prepares to act on it and settle it by the time he hits the road next day.

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