How chowkidar turned Rahul Gandhi jibe into edge

NEW DELHI: Around mid-March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told his aides to work on a campaign called “Main bhi chowkidar”. It would not be top down and would have to be “participative”, where people act to become part of a political statement expressing faith in Modi. The response to Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s repeated jibe of “chowkidar chor hai” in the context of allegations of graft in the Rafale fighter deal was not backed by any print or television outreach.


At the same time, the Prime Minister was clear that public participation had to be on a massive scale. After Modi took up the theme, the response was overwhelming as party cadre and supporters quickly changed their social media handles. The move was a classic judo throw, where the momentum of a charging opponent is turned against him — an insult became an assertion of honesty and vigilance.

As he prepared to seek a second term in office, Modi set his plans into motion soon after Diwali last year, beginning with a series of video conferences with party workers from fourfive parliamentary constituencies at a time. Each interaction covered 4,000-5,000 workers and culminated with a mega interaction touching thousands of cadres on March 28. After working to charge the party’s ranks, the Prime Minister addressed beneficiaries of welfare schemes over video links, a process that covered close to 40 lakh people. Thereafter, till the model code of conduct came into operation, he addressed some 200 meetings with locations selected keeping in mind project launches and political catchment benefits. When Modi stepped up his media interaction, giving around 20 print and 10 TV interviews, he asked his team to consider an interaction with a “non-political” public figure in an informal setting. The choice fell on actor Akshay Kumar, after others like

cricket

great Sachin Tendulkar were considered.

The “chat” with Akshay Kumar was a hit, with the Prime Minister’s Facebook page itself garnering 4.5 crore impressions. An estimated 25 crore people connected with the interaction that presented Modi in a less official light. Though slammed by the Opposition as a publicity stunt, lakhs tuned in to the interaction which saw a high audience among women. Modi touched many themes, but his team was convinced that national security and the “India-is-safe-in-Modi’s-hands” message was absolutely central to his campaign. He emphasised the theme and swiftly used a casual reference to the Mumbai 26/11 attacks by Rahul Gandhi aide Sam Pitroda, issuing four strong tweets and making the point that this only reflected Congress’s weak approach to terrorism. Even at the start of the campaign, Modi expressed confidence that BJP would win the election. He made the point that he could read spontaneity in the crowd response at rallies; and the

Balakot

airstrikes were greeted with the loudest cheers.

The Prime Minister stressed he had worked to make India more secure and self-reliant and would not hestitate to act in the national interest. The attack on the Opposition for being “pro-Pakistan” in questioning the success of the airstrikes sat closely with BJP’s efforts to counter the “minority polarisation” attempted by the Opposition. Modi’s team felt the challenge of jobs and employment was tackled by the Prime Minister outlining emerging opportunities and the sub-text that he was the best bet to tackle economic challenges. The political messaging of income support and enhanced MSP addressed farming communities, but the Modi campaign was convinced that Congress simply couldn’t build a narrative. This, it felt, was borne out when Congress abandoned grassroots issues for non-starters like Rafale. Congress miscalculated in targeting Modi over allegations of graft. Modi, meanwhile, took a keen interest in the party manifesto, delving deep into the specifics of the implementation of each poll promise.