A day after controversy over Cambridge Analytica’s (CA) association with bigwig political parties broke-out, JD(U) has sought a response from their senior leader KC Tyagi, whose son Amrish Tyagi owns its Indian arm, Ovelina Business Intelligence (OBI),
The Britain-based analytics company has come under fire along with Facebook for using the personal data of the users to influence their decisions in the 2016 US Presidential race.
Amrish Tyagi is reportedly the managing director OBI, which is a Ghaziabad-based firm, said to have a tie-up with SCL (Strategic Communication Laboratories), the parent company of CA. OBI’s website that was active till 3 pm on Wednesday, 21 March has been suspended by authorities.
Speaking to ANI, KC Tyagi said:
There was only a work relation between my son Amrish’s company and Cambridge Analytica. There is no financial transaction or shareholding, everything is open to probe. JDU also has no links with this, and neither did they promote us in 2010 polls.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav took a dig at the Centre’ statement about summoning Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, saying that they should summon defaulters like Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya if they had such “powers.”
As BJP’s popularity is going down on Facebook, they are challenging Facebook’s owner that he can be summoned. Government should tell us that if they have powers why can’t they summon Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi and Vijay Mallya?Tejashwi Yadav, RJD Leader
Yadav questioned how the JDU “does not know anything” when the party’s general secretary “was involved”.
Name of the company coming out in this matter is in the BJP client list, run by KC Tyagi’s son. JD(U) General Secretary’s son is involved and JD(U) is saying ‘we do not know anything’.Tejashwi Yadav, RJD
According to ANI, OBI allegedly used data analysis to influence voters in many elections since the 2010 Bihar Assembly elections.
While KC Tyagi has refuted the allegations, the CA website reportedly claims to have helped “its client” win the Bihar state elections in 2010.
It is to be noted that JD(U) had partnered with BJP in a pre-poll alliance and went on to clinch the polls.
BJP & Congress Trade Barbs
At a press briefing on 21 March, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad quoted reports published by The Economic Times, Business Standard and the Sunday Guardian that had suggested Congress was in touch with Big Data firm Cambridge Analytica before the the 2017 Gujarat State Assembly elections.
What link does Cambridge Analytica have with the social media management of Rahul Gandhi and the Congress? How much data of Indians has the Congress shared with foreign firms?Ravi Shankar Prasad
Hitting back at Prasad, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said it was the BJP which hired the services of the controversial firm during Bihar state polls as well as for its 'Mission 272-plus' campaign. He denied that the Congress had ever approached the company.
On Thursday, 23 March, Surjewala likened Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Hitler and said that Ravi Shankar Prasad was Goebbels.
Hitler had an associate called Goebbels, Modi ji has an associate called Ravi Shankar Prasad. BJP government has become a manufacturer of fake news. The biggest data thieves are making the most noise.Randeep Surjewala
Earlier on Thursday, Gandhi had tweeted saying that the BJP government was trying to “invent a story” on Congress being linked to Cambridge Analytica to cover up the fact that the External Affairs ministry “was caught lying” about the death of 39 Indians in Mosul.
Denying charges of being linked to the firm, the party counter-accused the ruling party of using the services of the controversial firm. The BJP rejected this allegation.
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