PMO at work to win Karnataka for BJP?
New Delhi: After winning Uttar Pradesh with an impressive margin, the Narendra Modi government has decided to train its eyes on regaining its former southern bastion of Karnataka and making gains in Tamil Nadu. It has decided to engage the services of two private companies to spread the message of Modi government’s people-friendly policies in the two states.
Interestingly, these companies were used in the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand polls too. If the BJP is looking to recapture Karnataka, it is aiming to make some gains in Tamil Nadu, seeing an opportunity after the demise of AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa.
It is learnt that the Prime Minister’s Office is directly monitoring the entire exercise as regaining power in the region is considered the top priority for the Modi government.
Sources said that the companies will be engaged through the Directorate of Field Publicity in the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry.
The two companies were involved in door-to-door campaigning of welfare schemes before the UP Assembly polls.
Apart from Modi’s charisma and RSS’ organisational backing, the contribution of these companies too has been appreciated by the party top bosses. That is the reason the need was felt to replicate it in Karnataka, sources said.
The Modi government’s achievements like demonetisation, Kisan Credit Card, Digital India and “people centric” policies like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Jan Dhan Yojna, Swacch Bharat Abhiyaan and Make in India and issues of national concern are likely to be brought before the people ahead of Assembly polls.
This campaign by the government will be a separate exercise from what is done at the political level by the BJP, sources said. It is understood that people’s views regarding government’s policies and local leaders are also likely to be collected from the electorate in the two states.