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Article is From Apr 16, 2018
Exclusive: Cambridge Analytica Pitched Election Strategy To Congress, Boss Met Rahul Gandhi, Say Sources
Sources said Cambridge Analytica's CEO Alexander Nix, now suspended, met with Rahul Gandhi, who was then Congress vice president, and former union ministers Jairam Ramesh and P Chidambaram
All India Written by Amitoj Singh
Updated: April 16, 2018 7:06 pm IST
Highlights
NDTV exclusively accesses 2018-19 pitch made by disgraced firm
Promised data driven campaign at cost of around ₹ 2.5 crore to Congress
Congress sources say company was never hired but a meeting did take place
NDTV has accessed the proposal Cambridge Analytica made to the Congress in October-November last year. The 50-page proposal, dated August 2017, is titled "Data-Driven Campaign | The Path to the 2019 Lok Sabha".
Sources say it was Cambridge Analytica's CEO Alexander Nix, now suspended, who pitched the proposal to the Congress. He reportedly met with Rahul Gandhi, who was then the vice president of the party, and former union ministers Jairam Ramesh and P Chidambaram.
The Cambridge Analytica plan was tentatively valued at $389,460 or approximately ₹ 2.5 crore
The plan was tentatively valued at $389,460 or approximately ₹ 2.5 crore. What the company offered included "Data mining of Facebook posts and Tweets", "extracting groundbreaking insights and shift balance in your favour" and "influencing voter intention, to take specific actions". NDTV has learnt from sources that the actual cost that the company conveyed to the Congress may have been as high as ₹ 7.5 crore.
meetings didn't yield anything, the sources add.
Rahul Gandhi became Congress president two months later.
Sources told NDTV that the Congress rejected the proposal because Cambridge Analytica was considered "right wing"
Sources told NDTV that the Congress rejected the proposal because Cambridge Analytica was considered "rightwing" and the party suspected that the company was trying to infiltrate the Congress.
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NDTV sought a response from the Congress on Alexander Nix's alleged meetings with Rahul Gandhi, Jairam Ramesh, and P Chidambaram but received no answer from their offices. A response did come from the party's data analytics head Praveen Chakravarthy. "The Congress party has not engaged Cambridge Analytica or any of its subsidiaries for any election campaigns. This has been re-iterated multiple times in the past," he said.
he said.
Cambridge Analytica's proposal last year to the Congress party promised a "data driven campaign"
"There is simply no need for the Congress party to obfuscate on this matter. It is plain and simple - the party has not worked with the said firm. As regards receiving proposals, the Congress party, by virtue of its standing as a strong national party, receives many proposals from many firms regularly, pitching their services," said Mr Chakravarthy.
Cambridge Analytica has been accused of mining data of millions of Facebook users to manipulate elections in countries including India.
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The BJP has accused the Congress of using its services and has asked Rahul Gandhi to "apologise". A whistleblower who exposed the scandal revealed in a tweet that not just the Congress, several other Indian parties may have used its services.