Pratham Mittal: Revolutionizing Democracy with Neta App

Pratham Mittal saw the need for a platform akin to the internet reviews, which allow for the rating of anything from restaurants to Uber drivers in the world of politics. Mittal, who is only 27 years old, introduced the Neta app, which lets people evaluate and rank their local politicians and holds them responsible for their actions outside of election cycles.

Hailing from a family known for founding the legendary Lovely Sweets shop in Jalandhar, Punjab, and the esteemed Lovely Professional University, Mittal’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to create a platform that gauges changes in political preferences and quantifies public mood. The Neta app, available on Android, iOS, and the web, seeks to bring transparency to the political landscape. Mittal’s journey into entrepreneurship began during his third year at the University of Pennsylvania in 2009, where he started his first venture, Outgrow. This platform, now the largest polling technology platform globally, enables polling on websites for over 4,000 publications, including The New York Times and The Guardian.

Driven by a passion for politics and a desire to impact change at the grassroots level, Mittal returned to India and founded the Neta app. The app, currently operational in Karnataka and select constituencies in Rajasthan, garnered attention during the Karnataka legislative assembly elections in May, claiming to poll 2.5 million votes. Unlike traditional elections that occur every five years, the Neta app allows users to rate politicians daily, creating a continuous feedback loop. This, according to Mittal, encourages leaders to work consistently and be accountable to their constituents every day.

The success of the app during the Karnataka elections, where it predicted a hung assembly with a 92.7 percent strike rate, showcased its potential impact. Mittal envisions building a Gallup-like company that captures real-time changes in political preferences, providing valuable insights into public sentiment. While the app currently follows a model of cumulative votes, reflecting the number of votes received by politicians, Mittal plans to introduce a tool for users to show their approval of the government on a five-point scale.

Despite concerns about fake votes, Mittal emphasizes the platform’s robust authentication process, including background checks through voter rolls, Aadhaar, and apps like Truecaller. He believes that with a large user base, manipulations by political parties would be limited, and the data generated would be representative of real users.

As Neta gears up for the upcoming state assembly elections in Rajasthan and the 2019 parliamentary elections, Mittal aims for a 30 percent penetration of the total voter base. The app’s ability to offer valuable data on political preferences makes it a potential game-changer in the evolving landscape of Indian democracy.

For now, the focus remains on making politicians accountable, with monetization as a secondary consideration down the road. Mittal, drawing on his experience in the internet business, understands the value of the data accumulated and sees it as a powerful tool for shaping a successful democracy in the smartphone age.