The BJP would like the electorate to believe that the good times ( Achhe Din ) it promised in the 2014 Lok Sabha campaign have already been ushered in by its government. The party has prepared an elaborate perception management campaign using some clever packaging to project its achievements.
The party even wants to take credit for lower fuel prices, besides claiming that it has revived stalled projects to boost growth and caused an increase in FDI and manufacturing and industrial production. The sudden change in the popular mood, beginning with the Delhi Assembly election results and the government’s isolation in Parliament on the Land Bill, has prompted the party to launch the campaign as it enters its first year, less than two months from now.
Some of the claims it will make are that the NDA government has “improved the Land Bill to help farmers” and the “Modi government excels in protecting minority investors.” The government has been under fire of late for diluting the UPA’s 2013 Land Acquisition Act in favour of corporates and failing to rein in elements indulging in forcible conversions and attacking minority institutions. Even the BJP’s ideological parent, the RSS, has repeatedly spoken of “bringing back minorities into the Hindu fold.”
Sources say the ruling party’s public outreach will begin next month and go on till the government completes one year in office in May. The party, along with different Ministries, has prepared a long list of what it sees as achievements of the Modi government and turned it into PowerPoint presentations and advertisements. It will also put out these slides on social media with hashtags such as #AchhheDin and #PowerForAll.
Campaign to focus on ‘benefits to poor’
On the BJP’s proposed propaganda blitz campaign, party secretary Shrikant Sharma says: “Our main focus is on what the government is doing for the rural population and the poor…Our government is pro-poor and pro-farmer, and that message needs to percolate to every district and every Vidhan Sabha.”
The newly appointed national executive will meet in Bangalore in the first week of April, where PowerPoint presentations will be passed on to the members for spreading the message.
The membership drive comes to an end by that time, and the propaganda material will be used during the training programmes for new members. The BJP now claims to have a total membership of 7.6 crore people, based on its drive. “The party has to act as a vehicle to take the achievements of the government to the people. The party will win elections if only the government is seen as a performer,” a senior leader says.
