Total Mobilisation

ON JANUARY 9, Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X (formerly Twitter) a Ram bhajan (a devotional hymn in praise of Lord Ram) by play­back singer Osman Mir titled ‘Shri Ramji Padhare’. As the spearhead of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) election campaign who is followed by close to 95 million people on X, Modi had been sharing YouTube vid­eos of similar melodious renditions for a while now, amplifying a religious fervour ahead of the consecration of the Ram Janmab­hoomi temple in Ayodhya on January 22. Make no mistake: Modi’s outreach to Ram devotees is only one of his multi-pronged efforts to attract the attention of voters to his government’s schemes and priorities in the run-up to the upcoming General Election in which he seeks re-election for the second straight time since leading his party to an emphatic win in 2014.

If BJP’s preparations and mobilisations for the 2014 polls were profoundly unique and results-oriented for that period, the 2019 polls saw the political entity set newer standards in the artistry of winning, making the previous edition look plain vanilla. So elaborate was the attention to detail and rigour, it was a campaign pitched as one that could not be excelled. This year is set to prove such conclusions wrong. Electioneering has already acquired a halo thanks to the all-encompassing use of man and machine and the formidable marshalling of forces by the ruling combine, which seems determined to leave nothing to chance irrespective of how well or poorly the opposition fares.

Even as the ruling party is gung-ho about the prana pratishtha (consecration) ceremony of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya—where people from as many as 53 countries, including Muslim nations, the US, the UK, Australia, various countries in Europe and Africa, are on the guest list—the prime minister has been meeting beneficiaries of many Union government welfare programmes. The idea is to vali­date its progress from what pundits describe as the “horse’s mouth” and use the feedback he gets from these visits—part of the ongoing Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra—to ensure consummation for such projects. The aim is to find what officials call “saturation” for these programmes so that nobody else comes up later with claims of hav­ing contributed to these initiatives. “I am searching for people who have been left out,” Modi had said on one of his tours. The highlight of these endeavours was Modi’s highly televised surprise visit to Meera Majhi, the 10th-crore beneficiary of the Ujjwala scheme, conceived many years ago to offer LPG connections to women be­low the poverty line, in Ayodhya. Modi connected with her family again, a few days later, dispatching a letter and gifts.

Modi has been at this—building goodwill and warming up to the common man whenever he could—for a while now, especially on the sidelines of his rallies and political functions. These behind-the-stage interactions over the past several months have been a huge hit, according to party insiders, in shoring up the confidence levels of local partymen about poll prospects and generating jubila­tion among the masses about Modi’s governance. The prime min­ister, it is said, made it a point recently to meet at least 100 people wherever he travelled in India for friendly chats. He also identi­fied groups that he considered crucial to nation-building, namely women, youth, farmers and the poor, for special treatment. He said during one of his interactions with the beneficiaries of Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra in December last year, “Mere liye desh ki sabse badi chaar jatiyan hain. Mere liye sabse badi jaati hai garib. Mere liye sabse badi jaati hai yuva, mere liye sabse badi jaati hai mahilayen. Mere liye sabse badi jaati hai kisan (For me, there are four biggest castes in the country. For me, the biggest caste is the poor. For me, the biggest caste is the youth. For me, the biggest caste is women. For me, the biggest caste is farmers).”

To bring back into context his bid to reach out to voters, the ex­ercise brims with cultural, political, and developmental messages. Cultural because just like the time Bal Gangadhar Tilak rallied sup­port for the national freedom movement starting in the last de­cade of the 19th century by organising Congress events coinciding with Ganesh festivals, Modi has been tapping the soul of Hindu India by invoking the name of Ram, and his ideas of justice and governance. According to a BJP leader, for the party, the building of the Ram temple, a key election-manifesto promise since 1996, is a dream come true, and the party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) are leaving no stone unturned to turn it into a mass celebration, connecting everyone to the event in Ayodhya. The Ram temple, like BJP’s pledge to eliminate Article 370, had been on the back-burner, and it is under the Modi dispensation that these promises have become a reality, the leader said.

Modi’s use of religious symbols and events from the Hindu epics has further endeared him to Hindu voters across the political spec­trum. The political impact of staking claim to the fruits of his labour as leader gives him a natural edge as campaigner. Talking about taking India to superpower status and focusing on development continues to click for him. From Ayodhya to Thrissur and beyond, he attracts record crowds. The proof of his appeal as a consummate and tireless campaigner is for all to see, round the clock. In addition, the ruling alliance has put in place volunteers across booth levels, as they had in the previous two elections, to bridge last-mile con­nectivity in the dissemination of information.

More importantly, Modi’s stress on the “new caste groups” seems to have struck a chord among the groups he has targeted for empowerment, in sharp contrast to the lukewarm, if not cold, response from various social groupings to the opposition’s insis­tence on a national caste survey as well as one done in Bihar.

The pull—a term that has now become a synonym for popu­larity in India—of Modi was evident during his recent visit to Lakshadweep, the island chain that he wanted to pitch as a beach destination for well-heeled tourists from across the globe, and as an untapped business avenue for hospitality biggies. The prime minister posing for postcard-like photo­graphs from a beach in that Union territory went viral, reinforcing the belief that he himself is the brand with the biggest appeal when it comes to India. Knee-jerk reactions from ministers in the Maldives backfired and generated vehement opposition on social media although the Indian government was measured in its observations. Other than further demoralising the opposition within India, singling out Modi for attack over his visit to Lakshadweep served no purpose. On the other hand, celebrities and ordinary folk took to X to post their support for the prime minister and shared images from their visit to the holiday spot as well. Overnight, Lakshadweep became a household name far beyond India and bookings for Lakshadweep visits soared, reasserting, as Modi watchers aver, his wider appeal and credi­bility among his admirers across socio-economic backgrounds.

BOTH THE RULING party and Modi are going the whole hog and do not wish to dilute their massive effort to reach vot­ers across segments. Sample how he connects with the youth: “I forget whatever I learned and sometimes even read the question wrong during exams due to pressure. How to tackle this kind of problem?” This was one of the queries posed to Modi among the “direct messages”, within a 500-character limit, by school students on MyGov.in.

Another student asks: “Namaskar manniy Modi ji aapne desh ke liye itna kiya iske liye bahut dhanyavad. Mai aapse ye puchna chahta hu ki ab hamare exam aa rahe he to fir padhai ki shuruat bhi kabse ho gai hain lekin padhai karne baithe to nind kyon aati hai? (Greetings Modiji. Thank you for doing so much for the country. I want to ask you that exams are nearing and studies have begun, but why does one feel sleepy while sitting to study?)”

Modi is expected to take up such exam-related concerns of students at the next Pariksha Pe Charcha epi­sode on January 29. This time, even parents have been invited to the programme, in which the prime minister will be connecting directly with students. Around three days be­fore the registration for the seventh edition of the interactive session be­tween the prime minister and school students was to close, over 1.5 crore students, nearly 12 lakh teachers, and 3.8 lakh parents registered to participate. Last month, respond­ing to a Ministry of Education post on X asking students, teachers and parents to participate in it, Modi posted: “Pariksha Pe Charcha aims to transform stress into success, enabling #ExamWarriors to ace exams with a smile. Who knows, the next big study tip might come straight from our interactive session!”

Taking time off his busy schedule, just months ahead of elec­tions, for an interaction with children in the age group of 11-17 to discuss how to deal with exams, is quintessential Modi. He will end up extending an outreach far beyond those who will be present before him, across the country. Through every student the prime minister connects with, he will be reaching out to an entire fam­ily. Notably, exactly a week before Pariksha Pe Charcha, Modi, as noted earlier, would be at Ayodhya for the Ram temple ceremony, a political centrepiece ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Those pres­ent are expected to include 8,000 in­vitees, but BJP and RSS are ensuring that the chants from Ayodhya echo across India and beyond its borders to reach the Indian diaspora abroad. Modi has requested all 140 crore people in the country to light a “Ram Jyoti” in their homes and celebrate the moment like Diwali, taking the consecration not only across states but also across religious, class, and caste lines.

The impact of staking claim to the fruits of Modi’s labour as leader gives him an edge as campaigner. Talking about taking India to superpower status and focusing on development clicks for him. From Ayodhya to Thrissur and beyond, he attracts record crowds

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Modi is leading from the front in every mobilisation programme, connecting directly with the people. Since the launch of the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra on November 15, 2023, Modi has interacted twice with ben­eficiaries of government schemes in Varanasi, the seat he represents in Parliament, and four times through video conferencing. In one such interaction, he described it as a yatra of dreams, hopes, aspirations, and resolutions. Without an iota of doubt, BJP is counting on the support of these labhartis or beneficiaries of the Union government’s flagship schemes, which cut across caste and regional barriers. Under Pradhan Man­tri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), around 81 crore poor get free foodgrains. The scheme, initiated in April 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, was extended in November by another five years. Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, four crore houses have been built during Modi’s tenure. Besides, over 51 bank ac­counts have been opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yo­jana (PMJDY), with deposits in these accounts totalling over ₹2.08 lakh crore. More than half the account holders are women. The piped potable water scheme, under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), has reached 14 crore households, covering 72 per cent of rural households, according to the Jal Shakti ministry. Like PMJDY and gas connection schemes, the JJM is also targeted particularly at changing the lives of women, who carry the burden of fetching water from sources far from their homes.

Not surprisingly, it was a women’s rally that Modi chose as one of the first major public meetings kick-starting his Lok Sabha election campaign. And it was in Kerala, politically one of the most challenging states for BJP. Addressing a large gathering of women at the ‘Sthree Shakthi Modikkuoppam (Women Power with PM Modi)’ rally in Thrissur, Modi began his sentences in Malayalam with “Ente ammamarum, sohidarimarum (My dear mothers and sisters)”, reeled out various schemes for women, and mentioned “Modi’s guarantee”, the new catchphrase, over a dozen times. The first of its kind, he shared the dais with known and lesser-known women from Kerala, including actor Shobhana, businesswoman Beena Kannan, athlete-turned-parliamentarian PT Usha, singer Vi­jayalakshmi, and octogenarian Mariakutty, a daily-wage labourer who took to the streets protesting against the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government over the delay in disbursing her pension. Modi made it a point to emphasise that it was his government that passed the long-pending Bill ensuring 33 per cent reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state Assemblies, named the Nari Shakti Van­dan Adhiniyam. He also reached out to the Christian community which, as per Census 2011, constitutes 18.38 per cent of the popula­tion in a state where BJP has never won a Lok Sabha seat.

FROM THE SANITARY-NAPKINS project to empower­ing women’s self-help groups (SHGs), Modi has laid out the roadmap for the party’s women-focused drive. During a virtual interaction with beneficiaries in Dewas in Madhya Pradesh in December 2023, Modi spelt out plans to turn 20 million women associated with SHGs into “lakhpatis” over the next three years. At a recent meeting of BJP’s Mahila Morcha, or women’s cell, modalities were worked out to engage with SHGs. Meanwhile, the Yuva Morcha, the youth cell of the party, has been asked to connect with first-time voters, estimated to account for 10-15 per cent of the electorate. According to available reports, while there were 80 million first-time voters in the 2019 General Election, the figure is expected to almost double to 150 million or more this time round. In the previous elections, first-time and younger vot­ers overwhelmingly contributed to BJP’s victory in the national elections, especially in key states like Uttar Pradesh and others.

Meanwhile, to rev up its electoral prowess, BJP has established 350 call centres, covering each Lok Sabha constituency—some of which have a dedicated one while others cover more than one seat—to streamline outreach right up to the booth level and pan­na pramukhs, responsible for a page of 30-35 voters. “BJP does not just turn up around the time of elections. It’s a 365x7x24 effort at connecting with people, reaching out to millions of people and mobilising every section of society,” says Baijayant Panda, BJP’s national vice president, who has got charge of the party’s Mahila Morcha.

For his part, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, while tak­ing part in the Yatra in Odisha’s Sambalpur said, “The prime minis­ter had launched the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra on the occasion of the birthday of Lord Birsa Munda on November 15. There is a plan to visit all the gram panchayats and cities. Through a massive mass movement in the country in the coming few years, with the coop­eration of all the citizens of the country, we all have the opportunity to take a pledge to make the country develop by 2040. In the coming 25 years, people should join the movement to make the country developed,” he said, outlining the Centre’s plans.

“With BJP’s long-pending promises like Ram Mandir and abro­gation of Article 370 taking shape, welfare schemes reaching people directly without discrimination and Modi’s popularity intact after 10 years, it is a complete mobilisation at the emotional, economic, social, and spiritual levels,” says another senior BJP leader.

The sight of people, including women from impoverished backgrounds from far-off Janakpur in Bihar and from Vijaya­pura in Karnataka, heading to Ayodhya with whatever little they can offer to Lord Ram has become common, raising hopes within BJP that all this will tremendously strengthen BJP’s cul­tural nationalism. Even as the armada of BJP’s election appara­tus is on the move, promising to batter any opposition narrative into submission, the combined opposition under the umbrella called I.N.D.I.A. appears feeble and unprepared, especially in the wake of the resounding defeat in recent state elections. The leadership skills of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi have come under a cloud once again following poll reverses. In 2019, the opposition was in much better shape, following state election wins and hopes of people voting for change. What compounds the woes of the anti-BJP front is that BJP seems to compete with itself to drastically improve its tally and is least distracted by the disarray in the rival camp.

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Amita Shah