Modi plans massive mass contact programme after a year in office

New Delhi: Days before the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) completes its first year in office, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is planning a massive outreach programme that will cover at least half the constituencies represented in the Lok Sabha.

The six-day programme, named Jan Kalyan Parv (celebration of development), will showcase the governance initiatives rolled out by the BJP-led NDA since it was sworn into office on 26 May 2014, after winning the 16th general election.

The intent is to recreate the messaging tone the BJP used successfully in the general election campaign to become the first party in 30 years to win a majority on its own. The government believes that it has not been able to communicate adequately to the people all the initiatives it has taken.

Senior ministers in the government are planning to hold at least 250 public meetings across the country; each of the 282 BJP MPs has been asked to hold rallies in their constituencies.

“We are working on a plan that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead the mass outreach programme and will hold a public meeting in Mathura on 25 May. All the other public meetings will be held from 26 May to 31 May,” said a senior BJP leader involved in the preparations.

The BJP-led NDA won a commanding majority with 332 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha in last year’s general election.

Separately, the government has also organized a day-long training programme for its spokespersons from each state.

“These 150 spokespersons have been briefed about the land acquisition bill, foreign direct investment, foreign policy and other major programmes of the government, which will directly benefit the people,” said a senior minister who didn’t want to be identified.

The ministers involved in the training programme were external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, finance minister Arun Jaitley, transport minister Nitin Gadkari, commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman and power minister Piyush Goyal.

To motivate its cadres, BJP leaders are readying posters that will carry information about the recent successful auction of coal blocks, highlight its promise of 24x7 power for every household and emphasize the NDA’s fight against corruption, especially the passage of a new black money law. Another set of posters will showcase social sector initiatives like the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana for life insurance, Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana for accidental insurance and Atal Pension Yojana.

“There are some slogans which are being prepared, apart from hashtags for social media. Among the slogans that are likely to be finalized are Modi Sarkar, Vikas Lagataar and Saal Ek, Kaam Anek,” a senior BJP leader said.

BJP leaders point out that there is a clear direction from the government that spokespersons should not engage the media, either in TV debates or press conferences, without proper facts, which will be provided to them by the relevant ministries.

“It was felt that there is a disconnect between the spokespersons and the government. So, ministers have been asked to not only make the spokespersons aware of the facts, but also provide more information in future,” the senior minister cited above added.

According to political analysts, the mass communication programme planned by the NDA is an attempt to win the perception battle the government is facing.

“This is a mass communication programme. The Congress has been doing this since the 1930s. The land acquisition bill has become a prestige issue for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and this is an attempt to create a support base for the bill. It is also to counter the foot march undertaken by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, which is being done to rally support against the land acquisition bill,” said Bidyut Chakrabarty, political science professor at Delhi University.

The Congress has blocked the land acquisition bill in the Rajya Sabha, where the NDA is in a minority, calling it anti-farmer because it would make it easier for businesses to acquire land. The government has accused critics of the bill of misleading the people.