Does Web game of Snakes & Ladders hint at poll results?

09 April,2009 07:46 AM IST |   |  Sanjeev Devasia

An Internet game, which received one lakh hits in 15 days, shows most netizens choosing NDA over UPA


An Internet game, which received one lakh hits in 15 days, shows most netizens choosing NDA over UPA

The fate of the NDA and the UPA will emerge only next month, but a popular game of political snakes and

KHELO INDIA KHELO: The web page of Indiavoting.com

ladders has already picked the BJP-led NDA as the winner. The game on Indiavoting.com, an edutainment website on the politics of the country, has received as many as one lakh hits over the last 15 days.


The game, which is also available on Facebook, offers two platforms the NDA led by L K Advani and the UPA led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Smaller parties and leaders like Chandrababu Naidu, Jayalalitha, George Fernandes and Sharad Pawar, among others feature as allies to the two fronts.

As the game proceeds, the allies become the ladders, while the opposition parties become the snakes.

Apolitical?

But what's interesting is that most visitors to the site have been choosing the NDA platform and often the winners are those who chose the platform led by Advani.

However, website officials claim that the firm is not affiliated to any political party. "It could just be a matter of probability that more people choose the NDA platform and win because we are an independent site without any party affiliations," said Amit Tripathi, managing director of India Voting.

Have fun and learn

The website has been launched with the aim of providing education as well as entertainment, claim the owners of the firm. The Democracy section hosts cartoons, crosswords, games, ladders and jokes. The site also has a never-ending quiz section on the politics of the country.

The Go Local section provides data on all constituencies including information about MPs, the usage of funds, and performance of the local MP. The showcase section has images and videos of the political campaigns across the country and a 40-page e-book on democracy, which contains a comprehensive data on Indian politics.

From onlineu00a0to on road
The website has also launched a vote yatra. An India voting van will travel across 150 constituencies to educate the voters on the need to vote and more importantly, to vote for the right candidate

Now, a website u00a0that tracks netas' airtime
Esha News Monitoring, a television news tracking agency, has launched a website that gives its viewers details on the amount their local politician would have spent on advertisements and how much screen time he managed to grab each day. The website campaigntrack.in, a public service initiative, will track politicians across 30 channels 25 news channels and 6 general entertainment channels so that viewers can make an informed decision with their vote.
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Mumbai News Snakes & Ladders web games LS Polls NDA UPA netizens