When it comes to election predictions, accuracy is everything – and for Mohali-based People’s Insight Pvt Ltd, precision “isn’t just a goal, it’s a trademark”.
The company was co-founded in 2024 by Nikhil Gupta, a computer science engineer who graduated from Punjab Technical University in 2012. Entrepreneurship had always been in his sights. In 2015, Gupta co-founded AppTunix, an IT services company, and two years later launched Naxtre Technologies, an outsourcing and custom IT solutions firm still operating successfully from Mohali.
It was during his Naxtre stint that the seeds of People’s Insight were sown.
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First experiments with polling
“We first experimented with polling in Gujarat in 2022 as a pilot project,” recalled Gupta. “After conducting a few elections, we realised the potential of applying data science to political analysis – and that’s when People’s Insight formally came into being in 2024,” he added.
What began as a bootstrap venture quickly stood out in India’s crowded polling space. While traditional agencies relied on sample sizes of 10,000-15,000 per state, People’s Insight scaled up to millions of responses – sometimes as high as 10 million in large states. The firm factored in caste, age, gender, category, and past voting turnout to develop projections that proved repeatedly accurate – precise enough at times to spark controversy.
The turning point: 2024 Lok Sabha elections
The real breakthrough came during the 2024 general elections, when the firm’s projections were broadcast on TV9.
“We built our analytical framework on Microsoft’s Power BI. This allows political parties to view real-time updates and assess their vote share instantly – something that earlier took 15-20 days in long printed reports,” Gupta said.
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The live dashboards became a game-changer, letting clients tweak parameters and track thousands of variables with unprecedented speed.
Why Mohali
While the company’s technology has been its backbone, its location in Mohali has been equally critical.
“We already had the infrastructure and resources through Naxtre Technologies,” Gupta said, adding that “Mohali offers access to a growing pool of data analysts and strategists – talent that’s rare in other parts of Punjab.”
The city’s growing ecosystem of IT professionals has helped the firm scale quickly, giving it a strong regional base while competing nationally.
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Challenges in a new domain
“This is a new domain, and high-volume data processing requires specific expertise,” Gupta said. To bridge the skill gap, People’s Insight has also been hiring from technical colleges in Odisha and South India, regions known for their strong IT education ecosystem.
Expanding footprint
From predicting the Ludhiana bypoll with 95 per cent round-wise accuracy to currently covering elections in Bihar and Tarn Taran, People’s Insight is steadily expanding its reach. Beyond just numbers, the firm offers strategic insights to political parties – helping them identify vote banks, track voter behaviour, and focus campaign resources more effectively.
Work ethic and vision
For Gupta, the journey is as much about mindset as it is about technology. “I’m a workaholic. Work itself is my stress buster. When you truly love what you do, you don’t need a stress buster,” he said.
