As Prime Minister Narendra Modi was busy in public rally and road show down South, the Central Ministers on Thursday fanned out across different States to launch celebratory programmes marking eight years with Modi at the helm.
Vignettes of political journey of Modi, 72, and the theme of him “turning himself to Pradhan Sevak” in the last eight years as he “served” the nation as Prime Minister would be splashed through the print and television media, including the national broadcaster, according to party sources .
Anniversaries of the Modi Government when Modi shifted the power centre from State of Gujarat to the Raisina hills have without exception been packed with party programmes to reach out to the public with Government policies, particularly Prime Minister’s flagship schemes.
Emerging out of the Covid-19 phase of past two years when anniversaries remained subdued with the theme of “seva and samarpan”, the BJP, this time round, is seeking to scale up the celebratory mood with all Central Ministers asked to visit different States to create nationwide awareness on the benefits delivered by the major policies in last eight years.
The BJP will mark the Modi Government’s completion of 8 years in power along the theme of “Sewa, Sushashan and Gareeb Kalyan” (service, good governance and welfare of the poor) from May 30.
Union Ministers have been tasked to connect with party workers and beneficiaries of several Central Government schemes from May 30 to June 15 and collect feedback.
The outreach programme is being conducted over a span of two weeks across 140 Parliamentary constituencies. On Wednesday, BJP President JP Nadda had held a meeting with the Central Ministers to work out a schedule for the fortnight-long campaign.
As Ministers busied themselves detailing their stay plans in various States, the Prime Minister addressed party workers in Telangana and led a BJP road show in Chennai where he also inaugurated projects worth Rs 31,000 crore.
Modi himself will be addressing a public rally in the poll-bound Himachal Pradesh’s Shimla on May 31. Prior to this the Prime Minister will be in Gujarat, which too is to elect a new Assembly by the year end, and attend an event in Rajkot and Gandhinagar.
According to the 8th anniversary plan of the BJP, Union Ministers, including Smriti Irani, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Dharmendra Pradhan, will be visiting West Bengal where the party seeks to galvanize cadres after a slew of reverse defection to the TMC of the MLAs who had joined the BJP before Assembly polls last year.
Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will be visiting Punjab, where the party has marginal presence and wants to expand its political base after poor showing in the recently held State elections which brought the AAP Government in power there.
The party wants to focus on the States where it is playing the role of Opposition in the anniversary marking exercise and thus also reach out to voters by way of rallies, events and press conferences in Odisha too which would go to polls in 2024. Similarly, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh will be the “target States” during the fortnight-long anniversary marking public rallies, events and media briefing.
Ministers will hold conferences, move with party workers and interact with beneficiaries of government schemes and assess the public mood, particularly those under poverty line. BJP Yuva Morcha has been assigned to organise mini rallies at the block level while the district unit of the party will hold rallies and “Vikas yatra” at the headquarters of the 36 organisational districts of the party.