‘ChatGPT, how to take on BJP?': Congress turns to AI for help as it preps for Madhya Pradesh comeback
After a bruising defeat in Madhya Pradesh in December 2023, and a steady stream of defections, the Congress is looking for a digital transformation, armed not just with resolve but with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
From June 9 to 15, all party MLAs, district presidents, and constituency and district in-charges will undergo mandatory training on media handling, social media conduct, misinformation detection, and the use of AI. The party leaders will have to stay together for the sessions to ensure team building and dialogue. The sessions will, however, not be free; participants have to pay a fee to attend.
In a recent closed-door meeting between All India Congress Committee's (AICC) Madhya Pradesh in-charge Harish Chaudhary and state Congress chief Jitu Patwari, the diagnosis was blunt: the party was ideologically on weak ground, its digital instincts were outdated, and its members were ill-equipped to navigate the hyperconnected political battlefield of the present. The two leaders said the party required a comprehensive training grounded in history, sharpened by technology and delivered with a dose of discipline.
'This isn't just about learning to use AI. It is a full-spectrum leadership course: ideological, practical, and technological,' state Congress vice-president Mahendra Joshi told The Indian Express.
Sanjay Kamle, a Congress state general secretary, said the training programme includes modules on understanding the party's ideological evolution, using AI to generate press notes and social media graphics, and leveraging speech-writing tools. Party workers will be trained to flag misinformation, understand international developments through curated news summaries, and move beyond dependence on digital agencies.
'Language will not be a barrier. Earlier, when instructions in English came from Delhi, local leaders in Hindi-speaking areas struggled to grasp their essence. Now, with ChatGPT, they can easily translate them. They don't have to engage a media strategist like big leaders do,' Kamle told The Indian Express. He emphasised that the programme's goal was to create a cadre that was digitally literate and politically aware, building on past initiatives on booth and media management.
The party plans to deploy AI tools for daily communications, crafting birthday tributes to political leaders, condolence messages for public figures, and content for local events. The focus, according to party leaders, is on understanding complex international issues. 'For example, what US President Donald Trump said in the past few days can be summarised and understood with the help of AI rather than reading multiple newspapers. Leaders will be able to understand complex concepts faster,' Kamle said.
The party will also ask its leaders and workers to follow WhatsApp etiquette, asking them to keep read receipts on so that those sending texts know that their message has been read. Public profiles with photographs and bios will become mandatory to verify the authenticity of office-bearers.
Building on previous efforts
The effort builds on efforts to impose internal discipline. In April, the state unit issued guidelines for public events, including mandatory displays of Gandhi and Ambedkar photos, uniform stage dimensions, bell-rung limits on speeches, and bans on leaders using vehicles belonging to individuals with criminal cases. At one recent gathering, senior leader Digvijaya Singh led by example, announcing he would sit with party workers after addressing an event, rather than on the stage.
One of the central challenges the Congress aims to address through this training is navigating an increasingly volatile political environment marked by 'communal polarisation, disinformation, and the rise of post-truth narratives'. Of these, the party is keen on 'countering vilification of Congress leaders through doctored videos, fake quotes' and 'misleading narratives, rewriting or selective portrayal of India's political history, including the diminishing of Congress's role in the freedom struggle', among others, according to insiders.
'We are preparing mentally and politically to take on hatred and post-truth tactics. There will be discussions on the Constitution and the strategy is to counter post-truth with the truth. For that, training the local cadre is a must. There are fabrications such as the Congress did not do anything for 70 years, we indulge in appeasement politics, and framing the party as 'anti-Hindu' or sympathetic to only one community. We are going to leverage technology to counter this,' said a Congress leader.
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