New Delhi: It was in September last year that the Bharatiya Janata Party declared Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its Prime Ministerial candidate despite internal differences and objections from senior party leaders LK Advani and Sushma Swaraj. Seven months later, the Modi-led BJP has got majority on its own and Modi will soon take oath as the next Prime Minister of the country.
Throughout his campaign, many questions were raised on the way the BJP was a one-man party. While the Opposition kept attacking Modi's dominance of the party, the BJP didn't get deterred and maintained the 'Ab Ki Baar, Modi Sarkaar' and the 'Modi wave' campaign till the end of the elections. All speeches were tailored according to the constituency where he was addressing rallies. During his entire campaign, Modi made special appeal to the youngsters and have them hope of a better future by highlighting the development work carried out by his administration in Gujarat.
'Chai pe charcha', 'Mission 272', holograms and similar other aggressive campaign ideas added to Modi's appeal and not only made headlines but also brought him closer to the voters. Let's look at what Modi did just right to hit the 272 target and become the Prime Minister of India:
Over 400 rallies
Modi addressed over 400 rallies after being made the Prime Ministerial candidate in September 2013. Modi was never seen in one particular state for more than 2 days especially when the campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections began in March this year. He covered North, South, East and West India and each rally of his had huge crowds roaring. Many questions were raised on the media as to whether it was exaggerating the number of crowds at his rallies. The results, however, say it all.
Cashing in on the anti-Congress mood
At each one of his rallies, Narendra Modi had something to say about the Congress. From 'Shehzada' to 'Damaadji', he left no chance whatsoever to gauge the anti-Congress mood and attack Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi. This seems to have worked in his favour this election.
Chai pe charcha
One sarcastic comment by Congress's Mani Shankar Aiyar on Modi's 'chai walah' (tea seller) status came as a shot in the arm for the BJP grandman's marketing team and they quickly devised an entire campaign around it. Right after Mani Shankar Aiyar took a jibe at Modi saying a tea seller can never become the Prime Minister, Modi's campaign met 'Chai pe charcha' turn. Modi met people at public meetings over tea and time and again raised the issue of the way he was written off as a 'chai walah'.
The chai walah has been the most popular and one of the most active users on Twitter this election season. Not just statements, Modi was even seen tweeting out selfies of himself. And he continues to do so. Right after winning on Friday too, he tweeted 'India has won', which soon became the most retweeted tweet. Soon after he even tweeted a selfie with his mother. He certainly know how to catch the trend. It is indeed 'Ab ki baar, Modi sarkaar'.
Holograms and TV interviews
Being one of the coolest political campaigners, towards the end of his campaigning, Modi started 3D campaigns, He was present where he was not present. The man started using the hologram technology to address rallies at places he couldn't visit. He basically was omnipresent.
He shut the critics who raised questions on him not giving television interviews. In the past one month, Modi's campaign was filled with a flurry of interviews to the media.
After a hectic season of campaign, Narendra Modi is all set to take the oath as the Prime Minister on May 21. Whether this campaign becomes more hectic is for us to see in the coming days as the new NDA government takes over.
Comments
0 comment