The Hindu : BJP spokesmen tutored on electronic poll warfare

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 29, 2004

National

National

BJP spokesmen tutored on electronic poll warfare

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JAN. 28 . The battle of the ballot is now increasingly taking place not just on the "ground" but also in the "air" and the Bharatiya Janata Party's two-day media workshop, which began today, is hoping to teach the party's spokesmen on how to conduct the election campaign, especially the electronic warfare on the television and radio.

"We have to get our party's message across to every voter," the party spokesperson, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, said today — and to do this effectively, every spokesperson of the party in the States has been invited for the workshop. Some from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh are also attending. In fact, the RSS spokesperson, Ram Madhav, is slated to speak to some 140 participants.

A media control room will be set up here at the party's central office, and this will be "interlinked" with control rooms in every State.

The party emphasised that it will conduct a "positive" and "constructive" campaign with development as the main theme. At the same time, some of its leaders are continuing to talk about the Gandhi siblings — Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra— but the party has refused to clarify its stand on their expected jump into active politics. "I will only repeat the party stand that a person with a `foreign origin' should not occupy any high constitutional office," Mr. Naqvi said, but did not answer repeated and specific queries whether his party was of the view that Mr.Gandhi and Ms.Vadra had a "foreign origin."

The issue has become a hot subject as for the last two days the party general secretary, Pramod Mahajan, has talked of the need for a would-be prime minister to have an Indian father and an Indian mother.

While recognising that Ms. Gandhi has acquired Indian citizenship, the party has openly propagated the view that there should be two classes of citizens. While some citizens - those born in India of Indian parents - can aspire to become prime minister, others with an acquired citizenship should not.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National