How the BJP machinery rolled on for 2019 polls

When the ruling BJP made its bid for the second slot in power in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, it was not just the tag line “Abki Baar 300 Paar, phir ek baar Modi Sarkaar” (this time cross 300, Modi government once again) that rolled on. It was also the giant organisational machinery of the party at work at multiple micro-levels.

While the outcome of the elections will be clear only on May 23, the duo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah did not leave any stone unturned to seek a full majority government for the second consecutive term.

According to statistics given by the party, BJP chief Amit Shah addressed public meetings in 312 Parliamentary seats out of which 151 were even before the schedule of Lok Sabha elections was announced. He addressed 18 road shows.

After this, Prime Minister Modi addressed the maximum of 160 rallies. UP Chief Minister Yogi Aditya Nath addressed 135 public meetings, Home Minister Rajnath Singh addressed 129 rallies, Nitin Gadkari 56 and Sushma Swaraj 23.

How much of this election was Modi-centric for the BJP can be gauged from the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself addressed 142 public meetings starting March 28. There were rallies from Vijay Sankalp meeting in Meerut in Western Uttar Pradesh to the concluding rally in Khargone in Malwa-Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh on May 17.

There were days when Modi addressed four to five meetings in a day. He covered an aerial distance of 1.05 lakh kilometres. On April 18, he travelled 4500 kilometres in a day traversing from Amroli in Gujarat, Bagalkot and Chikodi in Karnataka to Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.

According to BJP’s estimate, the maximum crowd that was recorded in Modi’s rally was in Kolkata in West Bengal, where the party is hoping make a big dent and win a number of Lok Sabha seats for the first time.

The BJP launched 14 publicity campaigns, including with specific themes for first-time voters and animated series. The party’s volunteers contacted 24.81 crore beneficiaries of Modi government’s schemes. The Prime Minister himself communicated with booth workers through Namo App and video conferencing in 115 Lok Sabha seats.

The party’s social media campaign including BJPKamalJyoti was also micromanaged. The party focused big on its key slogan woven around Modi’s persona “Main Bhi Chowdkiar Hoon” to create a connection between the working classes and the Prime Minister.