Asian voters, the Tory's software will get you!

Are you a voter in the UK? Are you from the Asian community? 

Then the Tories are here to get you!

Whether you are an Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi, or to narrow it down more, Hindus, Sikhs or Muslims, this election season the Consevatives promise to send you an 'ambassador' who not just shares your skin colour but can also speak your language to woo your votes.

UK elections furore is at its all time high and now the Tories are using a high tech software to 'convert' Asian voters. Developed by the British Asian Conservatory link, this software will 'racially profile' you. It will check all the names on the database of the constituent's electoral roll and find out what language the Asian voters are likely to speak. So you will soon find Tory representatatives conversant in your language either at your doorstep or over the phone selling you the Tory mantra.

Unfortunately for the Labour and Liberal Democrats, without such software, their canvassing methods would not be so tailormade for Asians. However, what they would be banking on is the 'loyalty' Asians have often showed them through votes.

So why this sudden fasination for the Asian votes? This election is crucial, it can swing either way and David Cameron knows the numbers that count. According to a Warwick University research, the Asian community has a much better voter turnout  (Indians - 67%, Pakistanis - 67% and Bangladeshis - 70% compared to the the national average of 60% in the last election) which makes them more reliable. Also with over a million Asian voters its no surprise the Tories need their votes to win the crucial seats that can get them a majority.

In December last year, the Tories added six more Asian contestants to their list, most of them in Labour dominated seats. 

Tony Blair's former constituency Sedgefield will now see Neil Mahapatra (pic left), an investment banker and an Oxford and Harvard alumni representing the Tories. Sedgefield has been represented for Labour since the 2007 by-election by Phil Wilson, a former aide to Tony Blair, who won with a majority of 6,956 over the Liberal Democrats.

Sachin Rajput, a councillor in Barnet since 2006, will stand for elections from Brent Central, a newly-created seat which  will probably be unique at the next election as the two sitting MPs Dawn Butler for Labour and Sarah Teather for the Lib Dems will be fighting for it. According to the Rallings and Thrasher calculations, it has a notional Labour majority of 7,469 over the Lib Dems, with the Conservatives starting in third place on a notional 13% of the vote.

Also Adeela Shafi (pic right) is representing the Tories for Bristol East, another Labour stronghold. Shafi is the only female Muslim Parliamentary Candidate for the Conservatives in the country, suitably contesting from a seat rich in Pakistanis & Muslims. 

So clearly some of these seats are not Tory target seats because of big Labour majority. However, given the political climate, the Tories are ready to fight this battle on the front foot. And they believe that with the help of this software they will be able to swing the ethnic minority votes in their favour. 

Perhaps easier said than done. But as a Asian voter, I will give the Tories points for trying.