The extravagance around his rallies has prompted Narendra Modi to preach austerity to BJP leaders. Modi recently told party leaders that ‘overdone’ arrangements at rallies do not match public sentiment and come with the risk of negative publicity.
BJP leaders who were part of this discussion told The Pioneer that Modi pointed out to them about huge spending on erecting extravagant stage and seating arrangement for leaders on the dais. “Modi had noticed that a rival party erected a small and simple stage with ordinary chairs for just half a dozen leaders for their rally. Compared to it, huge stages to accommodate about 50-70 leaders were erected by the BJP at several places where he traveled recently. He wanted this to change,” a senior BJP leader said.
Incidentally, a Modi rally in Chhattisgarh invited negative media coverage for putting a replica of the Red Fort in the backdrop. Similarly, extravagant stages were also built in cities like Delhi, Hyderabad and Rewari for Modi to address rallies. Dozens of garlands, big and small, and bouquets were also presented to leaders other than Modi who were on the stage.
“He suggested that the stage and other arrangements like seating, lighting, visual and sound systems should be as simple as possible,” BJP sources said. Modi who was in the national capital on Sunday to attend a meeting of the BJP’s central election committee also suggested that all members on the panel should go hi-tech and armed with a laptop or i-Pad, so as the biodata of every candidate is sent to them before hand.
Modi pointed out that since he has not been involved with party’s organisation works outside Gujarat for many years, he was not able to identify many workers and there was no point just discussing names without actually knowing them. When another member of the CEC pointed out to him that they consider a panel of names for a single seat, Modi responded saying that all members should be mailed a detailed biodata of all the claimants before the meeting.