Why do senior BJP leaders turn up at news shows on issues involving not so important Congress leadersIJ And why is that the BJP spokespersons give a sound ‘bite’ at the drop of the hatIJ
These and many more such issues plague the mind of BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, who unveiled his media strategy before members of the party’s election campaign committee that met on Tuesday.
“If Congress fields leaders from Gujarat to take on Modi in a TV show, why cannot we have leaders from Indore to counter Digvijay SinghIJ” Modi asked party leader.
He has now directed presidents of all State units, who were present in the meet, to prepare a list of potential speakers from their region, including ‘neutral’ experts like journalists, who could appear on behalf of the party on TV shows.
“The habit of party spokespersons giving byte on every subject under the sun should end. They often end up with eggs on their face while speaking on regional issues of which they have no clue,” Modi said. He asked party’s campaign managers: Why cannot a leader from Kerala, instead of a central leader, be fielded to respond to an issue concerning that StateIJ
Modi reiterated the importance of social media and felt there was a need to press the “refresh” button. “All elected representatives of the party must have a page on social media sites. Elected bodies, under BJP rule, should also follow suit to publicise their works and achievements,” he advised.
The party is working on a payment gateway to collect funds online - through credit cards, debit cards and net banking - for its ‘Modi for PM’ campaign. “Remember, to get vote from a house, you also need to get money from it,” Modi remarked. The party had coined “one note one vote” slogan on Tuesday with the idea of reaching out to 10 crore people seeking funds and votes, both.
Modi also underscored the importance of first-time voters and reminded the party that any person does not develop affinity to an ideology while being in the womb of his mother and he needs to be brought closer through sustained efforts.
Modi asked the party to take special efforts on January 25 (National Voters’ Day), January 26 (Republic Day) and February 11 (the martyrdom day of party founder Deen Dayal Upadhyay) to engage with first-time voters.
He has also advised the party to complete by January 26 the process of collecting of iron equipments of farmers from across the nation, which will be used for making Sardar Patel’s Statue of Unity in Gujarat. He asked party leaders to collect soil and water from all religious places of their areas and villages of freedom fighters and send it to Gujarat. These materials will also be used at the site of State of Unity.