This is inspired by fiction. The Aam Aadmi Party, which won the second highsest seats in the recent state elections in Delhi, India, has sought a referendum via SMS and an online form on whether it should form the government in the state, with outside support from one of the parties that it had strongly and vociferously opposed and campaigned against. The party has published an appeal on its website, asking people to SMS YES or NO to 08806110335, else call that number to share their views. Apart from this, they are also collecting people's opinions via an online form. The party has, so far, taken an unconventional approach, and aggressively used social media, SMS, and even advertising on auto rickshaws and radio to reach out to citizens, and while the use of technology to market itself is not unexpected, its use of social media for decision making is unique. The party had also uploaded many of its constituency specific manifestos online, for people to view before voting. There are two schools of thought on this move: firstly, the opinion that votes are representative of peoples opinion, and the party doesn't need to seek a fresh referendum on decision making. As someone said on Twitter, people have voted the party in to take decisions, not outsource them to people again. The other school of thought is that the party is truly inclusive (or populist), and trying to get a sense of peoples opinion before making a decision. It's noteworthy that…
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