Ahead of Lok Sabha Election 2019, the Bhartiya Janata Party sets the media campaign aiming to financially and socially weaker section of the society which get benefited from various government welfare programmes.
Industry experts says that to manage BJP campaigns on social media and other media platforms, the BJP led NDA government will invest approximately Rs 2500 crore with 20-25 creative agencies positioned it.
A senior BJP leader said “We had got little over 17.1 crore (171 million) votes in the 2014 general elections. But when we look at the development work of the government, at least 22 crore (220 million) people have benefited from different schemes of the government,” aware of the party’s media strategy. “These beneficiaries are people who have not traditionally been voters of BJP. These are people who may not have voted for BJP in the last Lok Sabha elections, but have the potential of voting for BJP since they have benefited by the work of the government.”
BJP leaders believe that the direct benefit transfer has managed to curb corruption and leakages. They also believe that Ayushman Bharat, housing for all and the minimum support scheme for farmers would be the main focus of the BJP campaign.
Senior BJP leader mentioned that “Ease of Living is the basic theme of this election campaign.” He also stated that the 2014 general elections had witnessed a turnout of 170-180 million voters, while 320 million have benefited from the government schemes in last five years.
This year election campaign will be done through English, Hindi and regional language newspaper, outdoor advertisements and discussions on radio channel similar to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s programme Mann Ki Baat, as well as through twitter.
Party is also giving emphasis on nationalism in the campaign. The recent Pulwama terror attack is one of the biggest opportunity which conveyed message on nationalism including slogan and songs on various social media.
“This is the election of an incumbent government that wants to come back,” said Harish Bijoor, brand strategy expert and founder of Harish Bijoor Consults. According to him, every winning campaign has both tangible and intangible elements of appeal for the electorate.
“The other (intangible) banks on what is emotional and real. There may have been a lack of credibility there thus far (but now after the Pulwama attack), nationhood is a huge emotional pool,” added Bijoor.
