Naidu advice: No more Ram-Ram, hello feel-good

Thereafter, without naming Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, he stressed: ‘‘There is no enemy in politics. They are all rivals.’’

The course, Mission Media Management — 2004, drew 110 participants from 22 states. Naidu’s stress on politeness reflects a realisation in the BJP that overdoing the foreign-origin issue may turn out to be counter-productive. In Sonia’s case, a measured stand may sell. Any unprovoked attack on the Gandhi children may only backfire.

Consequently, far from taking the Priyanka-Rahul theme forward, the BJP leadership has stepped in to preach moderation. This is in conformity with what the PM said recently: ‘‘Now, elections are about to be held. The language during campaign should be civilised and graceful.’’

There was advice aplenty from Naidu for the participants. ‘‘Don’t ignore even if anyone writes against you. Not even a Marxist. Let even Marxists know the BJP viewpoint.’’

The BJP, he made it clear, will go to the polls on two planks — leadership of Vajpayee and development carried out by his government. ‘‘Drive the feel-good point home. Instead of Ram-Ram, you should greet each other by saying feel-good. Thereafter, do reply if the Opposition raises any issue. There is no question of any retraction from the party stand on Ayodhya,” he said.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj gave tips on handling tasks effectively. General secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi briefed on ‘‘media management’’. Law Minister Arun Jaitley gave a lecture on ‘‘innovative campaign’’ and Mahajan talked of ‘‘campaign themes’’.