The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM) in West Bengal on Monday unveiled an Artificial Intelligence (AI) anchor, Samata, ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Through a video on the social media platform X, the Bengal unit of CPI(M) introduced the AI anchor.
Speaking in Bengali, Samata greeted the people of Bengal for Holi and announced, “Our gift for this year’s festival of colours is JNU in Lal Gulal.”
Party sources informed India Today that the AI anchor will be utilised for election campaigns as well.
Srijan Bhattacharya, a Left candidate from Jadavpur, said, “We are going to use this AI anchor for election campaigns as we are always up for something new which is not harmful.”
Meanwhile, BJP’s Tathagata Roy criticised the move, highlighting the irony of CPI(M) embracing technology, who had initially opposed computer education in the 1980s.
In response to Roy’s criticism, Bhattacharya clarified, “CPI(M) was never against the implementation of computers. But, the way it was supposed to be implemented could have led to mass joblessness, which CPI(M) did not want. It does not matter what Tathagata Roy thinks.”
CPI (M) has recently announced 21 candidates for the 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has earlier announced that the Lok Sabha polls will be held in seven phases in the state, with voting scheduled from April 19 to June 1.
While party veterans like Md Samil and Sujan Chakraborty have been fielded, the party has also nominated young leaders like Srijan Bhattacharya, Sayan Banerjee, and Deepshita Dhar.