BJP moves into next gear: Ad campaign, vision document this weekend

He’d peak too early, was the refrain from critics when the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi launched his mega-rallies criss-crossing India six months ago. But now, two months after the Congress released its advertising campaign, plastering Indian towns with huge hoardings of party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, the Bharatiya Janata Party is reintroducing its PM candidate, through a series of advertisements on billboards, in print and on TV channels, according to Madison Media, which is handling media buying for the party. [caption id=“attachment_1417969” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Narendra Modi at a rally. PTI[/caption] A report in The Economic Times  said the various components of the BJP campaign, from manifesto to TV commercials is being supervised by O&M India executive chairman Piyush Pandey himself. Sources told the paper that Pandey has “converted his Mumbai home into an impenetrable fortress” where his team functions from. The campaign, says the report, will tell the growth story of Gujarat and will go live this weekend. Simultaneously, the BJP is also launching its “India Vision 2025’, its vision document on key subjects including foreign policy, industry, economy, e-governance, environment, etc. Written by a team led by former party president Nitin Gadkari, the contents of the vision document have been the subject of some speculation – ideas that had been tossed around earlier included a radical rethinking of the affirmative action programme, an overhaul of tax rules and more. According to this report in The Economic Times , the big theme of the document is that the government should stay out of business, trade and commerce when possible. Even as Arvind Kejriwal, having completed his audit of the Gujarat model of development, alleged that the state continued to be a hub of corruption, joblessness and that small industry was being swallowed by the big players, the vision document is expected to make several statements on generating investments, on promoting industry and management of infrastructure.