Journalism of Courage
Days after what was his first public rally since being appointed BJPs chief campaigner,Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has hinted that he will rope in top BJP leaders for a series of big rallies at various cities across the country. The indication came during his meeting with BJPs Maharashtra core group leaders at Mumbai last week.
While his first rally after becoming the partys campaign committee chief was held on June 23 at Madhopur (Punjab) on Jan Sangh founder S P Mookerjees death anniversary,BJP sources present there reveal that he informed them that his next rally was slated for July 27 at Hyderabad. The Hunkar Rally is already scheduled for October 27 at Patna. Modi has informed,the sources say,that the partys top leaders will also accompany him to these rallies and that there is plan for more such rallies.
They claimed that there was a plan to gather about five lakh supporters from across Bihar for the Patna rally to send a message against Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) government after the bitter parting of ways.
The Hyderabad rally holds significance in the wake of BJPs strong objections to the political stance of local MP and AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi,who is one of the bitterest critics of Modi. The Gujarat Chief Minister is likely to send a clear message on the issue of Telangana as well as on the issue of secular-communal faultline in the polity for the next general election.
At the Maharashtra meeting,Modi was learnt to have suggested to the states core group of leaders to finalise a firm schedule for next 10 months with an eye on mobilising popular support for elections and finalising slogans for local issues.
In addition,he was learnt to have suggested strengthening of the databse of partys booth-level workers to reach out to them for effective communication in the run-up to elections. In this context,he also suggested partys state leaders to start sourcing youth volunteers to reach out to first time voters.
Modi,according to sources present in the meeting,stressed the importance of social media and was learnt to have claimed that there were 165 Lok Sabha seats where social media could be used to enhance their campaign pitch for the elections.
As for Maharashtra (48 Lok Sabha seats),during the meeting,the sources said it emerged that BJPs dependence on its alliance partner Shiv Sena was far more at booth levels in the 26 Lok Sabha constituencies that it contests than vice-versa. It was decided that the BJP should not rely completely on the Shiva Sena booth managers and intensify their booth management in coordination with Sena booth committees.
The sources also indicated that differences between the factions loyal to former BJP president Nitin Gadkari and deputy leader of the BJP in Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde came to fore and it emerged that the BJP general secretary in-cha-rge of Maharashtra,Rajiv Pra-tap Rudy,will have to strike a balance between the two.
