Riding high on M-Y factor

NEW DELHI: Even before the Lok Sabha poll fervour started peaking, the BJP built up a groundswell, ratcheting up ‘Brand Modi’, an exercise that helped the party reach out to around 20% of UP’s population within three-and-a-half months.

This was ‘Viksit Bharat Abhiyan’, which aimed for a ground level implementation of welfare schemes initiated by the BJP govt. The tagline — ‘Modi ki guarantee’ — marked BJP’s assertive bid to wheel out the ‘welfarism’ narrative and dispel a potential anti-incumbency stoked by the opposition.

Data assessed by TOI reveal that the campaign, carried out in two phases, from Nov 15, 2023 to Jan 29, 2024 and then again between Feb 8 and Feb 29, rolled around 25 programmes for students, sportspersons, artists, women, farmers and the sick.

As many as 650 vans moved through the state as BJP workers including MPs, MLAs and MLCs coordinated with govt officials in taking welfare schemes to the doorsteps of the needy.

UP BJP state general secretary and in charge of the campaign, Subhash Yaduvansh told TOI that at least 250 BJP MLAs and more than 50 MLCs were tasked to remain present at the spots where the vans reached. PM Narendra Modi and BJP national president JP Nadda too took part in the campaign in Varanasi and Gorakhpur, respectively.

“The idea was to turn the campaign into a ‘Jan andolan’ (public movement) that could bolster BJP’s outreach while countering opposition’s negative narrative,” Yaduvansh said. Records show that around 3.81 crore people turned up in different camps organised by BJP in coordination with the govt. The maximum turnout of over 73 lakh people was recorded in the Awadh region comprising 15 districts. This was followed by Gorakhpur (68.9 lakh), Braj (66.5 lakh), Kashi (64.9 lakh, West UP (58.2 lakh) and Kanpur-Bundelkhand (49.3 lakh).

The campaign has evoked sharp criticism from the opposition. “The ‘Viksit Bharat Abhiyan’ was purely a vote seeking exercise, carried out by the public exchequer and misusing govt machinery. It was nothing but a publicity stunt,” said SP national spokesperson Abdul Hafiz Gandhi. He maintained that material highlighting BJP promises is still being distributed clandestinely. The election commission should take cognizance of this and stop it immediately, he said.

“BJP strategy is two pronged: Hindutva and development. This is a typical case of stirring up developmental narrative at the ground level, especially in rural areas where people go by what they see,” said political expert JP Shukla. This, he said, was somewhat in contrast to urban areas where people are more educated and have independent opinions. “Politics is not social work. It is about drumming up the works done or proposed to be done by a political outfit,” he said.

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