Common man to be the focus of AAP radio campaign

Moving away from the way it conducts its campaign on FM radio, the Aam Aadmi Party has decided to project the common man and issues related to him, instead of focussing on party chief Arvind Kejriwal.

"We got a feedback that people were tired of listening to 'Namashkar, Mein Arvind Kejriwal bol raha hoon' and fresh breeze was required for the campaign. When Arvind realised this, he himself changed the strategy and brought in common man's voice," said a party volunteer working in the radio-campaign team.

The party has also adopted a strategy of "carpet-bombing" on all five major FM stations in the national capital during the peak time, from 7 AM in the morning to 12 PM in the noon.

The new campaign is also aimed to buttress the on-going Delhi Dialogue initiative undertaken by the party. Minute details of the campaign were being personally monitored by Kejriwal, party sources said.

"All voices are of people who have been affected in their real life because of different issues in the national capital," the volunteer said.

An 18-year-old party volunteer scored well in her 12th class, but could not get admission in any college, the volunteer said, adding, Kejriwal decided to highlight this issue by using her example for the Youth-Dialogue module.

The party has promised to build 20 new colleges to address the issue if it comes to power.

The party also wanted to support the on-going Delhi Dialogue, an initiative it has undertaken to interact and connect with masses from all stratas of society, ahead of assembly polls.

"An aim of the Delhi Dialogue is to remove the misconception that we are a 'dharna' party bereft of issues and do negative politics. With 'Delhi Dialogue', we are coming up with new topics and interacting with people of different backgrounds.

"The radio campaign will help strengthen the Delhi Dialogue initiative," the volunteer added.

The current campaign revolves around women's security and how Kejriwal will solve the issues if the party comes to power. This will be followed by campaign on 'Bijli-Pani' in the next such dialogue.

Incidentally, Kejriwal was invited to a FM radio channel last week, which conducted a four-hour-long interview with him.

Radio has been a crucial element of the AAP's campaigning strategy. It played a crucial role in the Delhi Assembly election last year.

More importantly, it served the party's requirement in two ways. First, due to the cost factor, it's one of the cheapest mediums of campaign compared to TV and print. Secondly, it has a wide reach, especially when it comes to the middle class, the party workers said.