New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Wednesday launched an app that will help the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) target “fake news” against itself, among other things.
Called the Arvind Kejriwal App or AKApp, the mobile phone application aims to present the difference between “truth and propaganda in the age of post-truth”, AAP officials told ThePrint.
This will be done through multiple short videos that explain some of the issues the opposition has made into controversies. One video, for example, has been posted under the title, “Why is Arvind Kejriwal giving away everything for free?”. The video invokes a common allegation made by the BJP against AAP schemes such as free public transport for women. Another video explained why only women were getting free bus rides, a proposal many have criticised as sexist.
The app is already available for Android phones and will soon go live for iOS (iPhone operating system).
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A personal touch
Launched months before Delhi goes to elections, AKApp also seeks to be a portal where AAP volunteers and supporters from across the globe can connect with Kejriwal.
The home page describes it as “not just an app, but in fact the story of struggle, and the Aam Aadmi Party’s struggle to bring a better and equitable quality of life to every citizen of Delhi”.
The app will offer subscribers breaking news related to the AAP national convener, his daily schedule, video clips of his speech, and response to media reports, apart from an account of the work done by his government. You need not register yourself on the app, as is the norm, by furnishing your mobile number or email ID, and can access the content as a guest.
Anybody who downloads the app will have exclusive access to Kejriwal’s public calendar and all his public programmes will be streamed live on the portal.
It also offers a personal touch, depicting Kejriwal’s journey so far, from being a student at IIT-Kharagpur to his days as an activist, and the transition to politics.
This will be available in the form of an interactive timeline with pictures and videos, according to an official statement from the AAP.
The home page Wednesday featured an article from February 2015 where Kejriwal thanked his wife Sunita Kejirwal for always being there for him.
There are also first-person video accounts where voters talk about the AAP, for example, senior citizens expressing their opinion about Kejrwal’s free pilgrimage scheme.
The app is available in Hindi and English.
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