Modi, Programs and Publicity

November 3, 2017 326 Views No Comment

Is India really shining under Prime Minister Narendra Modi? The massive India Shining media glitz in 2004 instead of helping the party it backfired, precisely because of the false impression it was trying to create. The reality was different. The BJP failed to acknowledge it.

Remember the India Shining campaign of the then ruling BJP government under Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee? Here is a recap. India Shining was a marketing slogan referring to the overall feeling of economic optimism in India, which the then ruling BJP government wanted to sell to the Indian electorate during the 2004 general elections. It was reported that the BJP government spent an estimated US$20 million of government funds on national television advertisements and newspaper ads featuring the ‘India Shining’ slogan.The political outcome was a complete disaster as the Congress under Sonia Gandhi managed to return to power. So the benefit of the India Shining campaign went the other way! In fact the Congress led UPA Alliance managed two terms in office.

As another BJP led government, this time under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, prepare for re-election in 2019, are we seeing an indication of the India Shining campaign. Despite the tall claims of PM Modi delivering on the ground-breaking demonetisation exercise and GST, seen as a revolutionary step to make India into one unified common market, the good feel effect is not there, no matter how hard the BJP and its media managers may try to paint a picture-perfect postcard.

The common man does not understand economics. An ArunJaitley (Union Finance minister) talking at some foreign university in New York about institutional reforms or structural changes does not appeal to the aamadmi. For them they want their problems related to their livelihoods resolved. Even the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its recent report has spoken about slow growth in the economy as a result of demonetization and GST. There is also rising unemployment and continuing distress in the farm sector. Even the government’s own Economic Survey and official reports confirm the decline of the economy.

It is therefore quite clear that not all is well with the present state of the economy. But again there is nothing to be so defensive about. The BJP appears to be relying too much on self-justification through the media and not focusing on undertaking some mid-course correction. It is simply to put, living in denial. If the BJP does not want a repeat of its past mistake it needs to acknowledge the gaps and improve on it. The massive India Shining media glitz in 2004 instead of helping the party it backfired, precisely because of the false impression it was trying to create. The reality was different. The BJP failed to acknowledge it.

Narendra Modi is everywhere these days—on billboards, television screens, newspaper advertisements and even in the virtual online world where Modi and his countless of programmes and slogans,they pop up everywhere, sometimes quite annoyingly. In terms of media outreach, Modi has everything—Facebook account, Twitter handle, YouTube Channel and even WhatsApp and Google App we are told. But will media publicity and propaganda alone deliver an election win for the Prime Minister and his party? Perhaps not.

Indian voters don’t seem to like too much of high profile campaign messages. They would prefer high impact government measures such as the MGNREGA which actually propelled the Manmohan Singh government back to power in 2009. In Modi’s case, the good intention of demonetization or GST has so far not had a feel good impact on the general population. In social media language it would mean ‘not much likes’. Will things become better by 2019? Modi and the BJP would have to hope for a turnaround in the economy. Along with that the BJP leadership needs to focus less on the media or Rahul Gandhi and more on government delivery.