TV, app, rallies: How brand Modi plays in election

Agencies
April 4, 2019

New Delhi, Apr 4: If Prime Minister Narendra Modi wins this spring's general election, as is widely expected, it will also be another massive victory for the marketing machine created to amplify Brand Modi into every Indian living room.

Opinion polls regularly show Modi is India's most popular politician, and to turn that appeal into votes, his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has pulled out all the stops from the most modern methods of communication to the very traditional.

There is the recently launched "NaMo TV" dedicated to the 68-year-old leader, a Narendra Modi mobile app the party says has been downloaded by 100 million people, and a massive social media following across every major platform in India.

Modi and the BJP have a combined 57.5 million followers on Twitter, four times the total for the main opposition Congress party and its president Rahul Gandhi.

Modi is the world's third-most-followed politician on Twitter after former U.S. President Barack Obama and current President Donald Trump.

The BJP itself claims to have more members than any other political party in the world.

Polls for the world's biggest democratic vote open on a rolling basis between April 11 and May 19.

Modi is widely expected to be in a position to form a new government after the election, according to pollsters, with the big question whether he will win an outright majority or be forced into trying to form a coalition.

With the campaign now in full swing, the BJP says Modi physically reaches out to more than 250,000 people a day through the many rallies he addresses.

Most of those are then carried live across multiple party platforms and news channels across India, including the nation's public broadcaster.

"He is doing three to four rallies every day. One rally would cover three to four constituencies," said Vijay Chauthaiwale, who is in charge of BJP's foreign affairs department.

Last Sunday 10 million people watched a TV programme in which Modi interacted with the country's security guards, he added.

Opposition parties have complained the BJP is gaining an unfair advantage by using the state broadcaster and the NaMo TV to air its propaganda. The BJP has denied the accusations but the Election Commission has said it's looking into the complaints.

Early Start

On Wednesday alone, Modi addressed as many as four rallies, starting early in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh and ending late in a constituency 2,300 km away in the western state of Maharashtra.

Gandhi spoke in three rallies, all in the northeast.

Even before the election dates were announced on March 10, Modi went on a spree to launch various public projects across more than 16 states, often using those events to broadcast the achievements of his government.

"The opposition is way behind the curve," said a close aide to Modi who declined to be named as he was not authorised to speak with reporters. "Even before the official inauguration of the political campaign on March 28, he completed the first phase of campaigning. Now it's the second phase."

Congress accuses Modi and the BJP of misusing its powers and deep pockets to try and influence voters.

“Modi used public projects, government-sponsored events as a vehicle to serve his political campaigning," Congress's chief spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala said. "We know the voters understand this strategy and they will make the right choice of defeating his party.”

Lacking Helicopters

Congress also complained in January that it was struggling to find enough helicopters to ferry its leaders because the BJP had reserved most of the available aircraft well in advance.

The BJP has indeed substantially increased its income and party membership in the past five years in power.

In 2017/18, the BJP’s total income including donations stood at 10.27 billion rupees compared with 1.9 billion rupees for Congress, according to the Association for Democratic Reforms, a Delhi-based advocacy group that examines political funding and candidate disclosure forms.

"There's a huge gap between our campaign and their (Congress) campaign," BJP spokesman Gopal Krishna Agarwal said. "We're much ahead in our communication, on organisational structure, outreach schemes etc."

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Agencies
February 13,2020

New Delhi, Feb 13: The BJP's Amit Shah today said statements like "goli maaro" and "Indo-Pak match" should not have been made by BJP leaders ahead of the Delhi elections.

The BJP may have suffered in the elections because of hate statements made by party leaders, he said, reported news agency Press Trust of India.

The party, he said, had distanced itself from such remarks.

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News Network
April 23,2020

Riyadh, Apr 22: In an extraordinary initiative, the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has decided to facilitate the travel of expatriates who have an exit and reentry visa or final exit visa to return to their countries.

This is in line with the order of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

According to the initiative, called “Auda” (return), expatriates can apply seeking permission for travel to their countries through the Absher portal of the ministry.

Announcing this, Saudi's Ministry of Interior said that the initiative will be implemented in cooperation with a number of relevant government agencies.

Requests for travel from expatriates will be received and approved in coordination with the relevant authorities to complete their travel procedures on board international flights.

As per the initiative, a text message will be sent to the beneficiary stating the travel date, ticket number and reservation details, and by which the beneficiary can obtain his travel ticket and complete the travel procedures.

Clarifying the procedures for the travel, the ministry said that the applicant shall select the icon (Auda) after visiting the Absher portal and fill the following fields: iqama (residency permit) number, date of birth, mobile number, departure city and airport of arrival.

It is not mandatory for the expatriate to have his own Absher account for availing of the service, the ministry said, adding that this facility is to enable expatriates to benefit from this initiative.

The departure will be through the following airports: King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Prince Muhammad International Airport in Madinah, and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam.

Those expatriates who are outside these cities can benefit from the service through entering airport of departure after completion of their travel procedures in sufficient period of time.

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Agencies
May 30,2020

New Delhi, May 30: The Congress on Friday described the first year of the Modi government as a "year of disappointment, disastrous management and diabolical pain".

Congress leader K C Venugopal said the six years of the Modi dispensation have seen fraying of bonds of empathy, fraternity and brotherhood with increase in acts of communal and sectarian violence.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that at the end of six years, it appears the Modi government is at war with its people and is inflicting wounds on them, instead of healing them.

"It is inflicting wounds on Mother India," he said.

"This government is trying to fill coffers of the select rich and is inflicting pain on the poor," Surjewala said.

On the BJP's charge of the Congress playing politics over the COVID-19 crisis, Venugopal said the opposition party did not indulge in any politics and gave suggestions instead.

"Being a responsible opposition, it is our duty to raise the problems faced by the common people. As opposition, we highlighted the failures of the government," he said.

Venugopal said the government "is totally insensitive" to the plight of migrant labourers and farmers.

Surjewala also demanded that a virtual session of Parliament be convened immediately to discuss pressing issues and the due process be set in motion for holding of meetings of various parliamentary committees.

Modi and his cabinet had taken oath on this day last year for a second term in office.

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