by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
No carpet bombing this time by BJP
Fever rallies of PM in MP, Chhattisgarh & Rajasthan
Harish Gupta
New Delhi, Nov 19
Contrary to earlier practice of carpet-bombing poll-bound states by the BJP's Central leadership, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are witnessing a strange situation; that Prime Minister Modi is addressing fever number of rallies and incumbent chief ministers are given fulsome praises.
As against 34 rallies in Gujrat and 24 rallies in Karnataka, PM Modi is likely to address only 12-odd rallies in Madhya Pradesh. He has already visited the state twice and addressed five rallies. With polling taking place on November 28, the campaigning will end on November 26. It is said that Modi will visit the state for two days during the next one week. It simply means the number of rallies in Madhya Pradesh will be another six and won't touch the dozen mark. This was despite the fact that the three term chief minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan is facing anti-incumbency and needs extra support.
Even in Chhattisgarh, the prime minister chose to address five rallies only. Though its a small state. But still the Chief Minister Raman Singh is facing an uphill task to retain the state fourth time.
Another interesting feature of campaigning in poll-bound states so far shows that incumbent chief ministers in all three states have been given extra importance. BJP chief Amit Shah praised Shivraj Singh Chouhan showered praises on him saying that he had not seen a more hard-working chief minister than him. He even termed Chouhan as a symbol of development. This puzzled many in the BJP. As neither Shah nor Modi have a reputation of giving other leaders in the party credit for good work.
There is a feeling in the BJP that leadership is not inclined to project these elections as PM vs the Opposition. The Prime Minister is not the face of the ruling party’s campaign in any of the three states and rather chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan dominate the party’s billboards. This is a complete departure from the campaigning seen in Assam, Manipur, Goa, Karnataka, Gujrat and other states where the PM took upon himself to swing the polls.
In respect of Rajasthan, Amit Shah has taken control of the campaigning and given a free hand to Vasundhararaje Scindia. The PM may address not more than 10-12 rallies in Rajasthan, sources say. It transpires that after polling ends in Madhya Pradesh, Amit Shah will camp at Jaipur and monitor the poll campaign.
The BJP has also changed campaign strategy in this round and focus is more on technology and social media. The focus is poll booth management and concentrating on “Panna Pramukh” (voter's list incharge for each page) and house-to-house campaigning. It is realized that mega rallies may not be possible during the short period. The social media units in Madhya Pradesh is connecting to 45 lakh electorates and 30 lakhs in Rajasthan. The social media units focus in Chhattisgarh was 20 lakh voters. The leadership feels that carpet-bombing may better be reserved for the Lok Sabha polls.
Ends
No carpet bombing this time by BJP
Fever rallies of PM in MP, Chhattisgarh & Rajasthan
Harish Gupta
New Delhi, Nov 19
Contrary to earlier practice of carpet-bombing poll-bound states by the BJP's Central leadership, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are witnessing a strange situation; that Prime Minister Modi is addressing fever number of rallies and incumbent chief ministers are given fulsome praises.
As against 34 rallies in Gujrat and 24 rallies in Karnataka, PM Modi is likely to address only 12-odd rallies in Madhya Pradesh. He has already visited the state twice and addressed five rallies. With polling taking place on November 28, the campaigning will end on November 26. It is said that Modi will visit the state for two days during the next one week. It simply means the number of rallies in Madhya Pradesh will be another six and won't touch the dozen mark. This was despite the fact that the three term chief minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan is facing anti-incumbency and needs extra support.
Even in Chhattisgarh, the prime minister chose to address five rallies only. Though its a small state. But still the Chief Minister Raman Singh is facing an uphill task to retain the state fourth time.
Another interesting feature of campaigning in poll-bound states so far shows that incumbent chief ministers in all three states have been given extra importance. BJP chief Amit Shah praised Shivraj Singh Chouhan showered praises on him saying that he had not seen a more hard-working chief minister than him. He even termed Chouhan as a symbol of development. This puzzled many in the BJP. As neither Shah nor Modi have a reputation of giving other leaders in the party credit for good work.
There is a feeling in the BJP that leadership is not inclined to project these elections as PM vs the Opposition. The Prime Minister is not the face of the ruling party’s campaign in any of the three states and rather chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan dominate the party’s billboards. This is a complete departure from the campaigning seen in Assam, Manipur, Goa, Karnataka, Gujrat and other states where the PM took upon himself to swing the polls.
In respect of Rajasthan, Amit Shah has taken control of the campaigning and given a free hand to Vasundhararaje Scindia. The PM may address not more than 10-12 rallies in Rajasthan, sources say. It transpires that after polling ends in Madhya Pradesh, Amit Shah will camp at Jaipur and monitor the poll campaign.
The BJP has also changed campaign strategy in this round and focus is more on technology and social media. The focus is poll booth management and concentrating on “Panna Pramukh” (voter's list incharge for each page) and house-to-house campaigning. It is realized that mega rallies may not be possible during the short period. The social media units in Madhya Pradesh is connecting to 45 lakh electorates and 30 lakhs in Rajasthan. The social media units focus in Chhattisgarh was 20 lakh voters. The leadership feels that carpet-bombing may better be reserved for the Lok Sabha polls.
Ends
