Elections 2014: How Modi's sharp campaign helped BJP move ahead

As BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi finished his speech in Balia, Uttar Pradesh on Saturday and drew the curtains down on his campaign, he created a record in the Indian political history, very difficult to match. In just a few months, Modi had lent himself, at times in his 3D avatar, to 5385 appearances that include rallies, TV interviews, conclaves, chai pe charchas etc. He travelled over 300000 kilometres and the number of big public rallies he addressed stood at 440. While the magnitude of his campaign rattled his rivals and raised eyebrows about its funding sources, it was easily the most interesting campaign India has witnessed in the recent times. Modi’s energetic oratory, his team’s deft handling of technology and social media and a snazzy website were just a few of the things that made his campaign a rollicking hit with fans. Though he had made several appearances and had already starting building his ground, he officially kicked off his poll campaign with an address to students in Delhi’s Sri Ram College of Commerce. There, he spoke about the ‘Gujarat model of development’ at length. With that speech, he tried to position himself as a no-nonsense, pro-business leader. Around the same time, he assimilated a group of professionals from the best institutes in India and over the world, to form the Citizens for Accountable Governance (CAG). [caption id=“attachment_1517873” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Narendra Modi. Agencies.[/caption] No chief minister, prior to Narendra Modi, had ran for the Prime Minister’s post in India. According to the political rule book that all parties have followed till date, a leader has to establish his credentials as a politician of national reach and relevance before he contests as a PM nominee. However, Modi decided to let his work in Gujarat speak for himself as he set out to test new waters after being declared BJP’s PM candidate. However, he was faced with a stupendous challenge. That of running a successful campaign for the BJP in the national elections and run a state. A source close to Modi told Firstpost that he had made it very clear that he will not shift his base to Delhi just to run a national campaign and he decided to run the show from Gandhinagar itself. It couldn’t have been an easy job to do. To be the chief minister of the state and  be the alliance builder, crisis manager and campaigner for a national party. In course of one day, sources say, Gujarat’s CM packed in yoga, meeting party members, keeping a tab on social media and then address rallies in at faraway corners of the country. His day usually starts at 5am. After a hectic day, when Modi returns home, sources say, several groups of people wait to meet him with their problems. Several of this visitors hold meetings with Modi individually or in groups. Such meetings extended way past midnight. “It should be noted that despite being announced the PM candidate, till the Model Code of Conduct was announced, Modiji continued to chair all cabinet meetings, attended assembly sessions and was involved in the presentation of the state budget as well," BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi said. During the ten-day Navratra period in April, Modi reportedly survived only on nimbu paani. However, the hardships don’t seem to bother Modi. In his latest blog post, updated on Saturday, he says, “The unprecedented blessings I have received from the people have been very humbling. Conventional wisdom would suggest such a campaign would be tiring but I am experiencing a deep satisfaction and freshness that one would feel after a long and elaborate Sadhna. When I look back at the entire campaign, three words come to my mind – Extensive, Innovative and Satisfying.” One is aware of the mass frenzy that a Modi rally incites among followers. Through his relentless campaigning, the Gujarat CM has turned himself into a cult figure and that, again, wasn’t an easy task to do. So despite the possibility of criticism, the parry declared him their PM candidate, in order to indicate that he will be running the show for them. In the run up to the polls in MP, Chhatisgarh, Rajathan and Delhi he addressed as many as 54 rallies. The first rally that he addressed after being named as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate was of ex-servicemen on September 15 in Rewari, Haryana. The area is known to be a BJP stronghold. However, he chose it as his debut rally after being declared BJP’s PM nominee. His team then came up with another idea - levying an entry fee of Rs 5 at his rallies.  As rivals mocked the idea and party men defended it, the buzz remained strongly focused on the his series of rallies. Finally, Modi overcame language barriers and poor organisational base of the BJP in Andhra to clinch an ally in TDP. He led the march in Tamil Nadu too and for the first time, the contest in TN is going to be a triangular one compared to the usual two-way one. He also aggressively campaigned in West Bengal, Orissa, Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh etc. Before him, no other leader had ever paid as much importance to every state in the country. His pleasantly surprised his colleagues in Bihar by holding 30 rallies and meetings in the state alone. Modi should be credited for the transforming this year’s polls in the Modi versus his rivals battle. He made it about him, but BJP, which has been out of power for a decade and has not thrown up any other compelling leader, stands to gain from it the most. In fact, he managed to turn him into the axis around which the polls revolve. The Congress wants people to vote against Modi, the Third Front wants people to vote against Modi. The rivals are basically busy asking people to vote against Modi than vote for them. The closest comparison could be 1971 elections when Indira Gandhi was an issue against a grand coalition of opposition parties. But then Indira was Prime Minister, Modi in contrast is just a challenger. The Congress had made the initial mistake of underestimating him as just a state leader with no national bearing. However, Modi worked very hard in making himself known to voters hitherto disinterested in his politics. Also, Manmohan Singh’s silence and Rahul Gandhi’s lack of charm made the job easier for him. In Modi’s own words, the Hunkar Rally held last year in Patna, made him realise that this was a tryst with destiny: “The events of Patna will remain etched in my memory- there were live bombs on one side but the resolve of the people prevailed. Nobody left the venue of the rally. I had a clear message that day that I repeated often during the campaign- we can decide whether we want to fight each other or we want to unite to fight poverty? The former will lead us nowhere while the latter will take our Nation to greater heights.”