Plans afoot to boost Advani’s image

The ‘command office’ is being set up in the official residence of party general secretary Ananth Kumar. The office will monitor and act as a liaison unit during the campaign activities in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls, sources said.

The initiative is designed to have a two-pronged aim of boosting his image among the voters as also ensure coordination with the party.

The office, slated to be launched this Sunday at a private function, will involve a select group of BJP leaders.

However, the move has raised eye-brows among some other party cadres, who wonder why it was to be opened as BJP already has full-fledged set up to do such things.

One of the first steps of the office would be to launch a website dedicated to Advani and his autobiography ‘My Country, My Life’.

The website will invite suggestions from the public on the contents of the book.

Another function of the “control office” would be to provide “timely and authentic” content on Advani and the events related to his campaign to the publishing and media houses.

More than a dedicated site for the autobiography, another website in the pipeline aims at presenting the “persona” of Advani as prime ministerial aspirant and it would equipped all the modern interactive tools.

The site would compile all the works and details related to the saffron leader and would keep the voters updated, sources said.

The party also plans to reach out to the electorate through calls on mobiles and SMS’ as it did during the 2004 Lok Sabha polls. However, in a shift from the last time, the party will take care of not making unsolicited calls or send SMS’.

“It could some time prove to be counter-productive,” a source said.

This time, the approach will be based on “permission marketing” wherein anyone wishing to receive calls or SMS’ will have to first sign-up or suggest a friend who would then be approached with the publicity material.