The Telegraph had this to report
The Gujarat government has got technology company Inficast to float a channel, named Vande Gujarat, and rented it for the next three months during which the Assembly polls are expected to be held
The BJP’s Narendra Modi has taken his campaign strategy to the next level.
The company, which already had an internet telephony (IP) distribution network, has tied up with over 60 per cent of Gujarat’s cable operators. The programmes — 32 documentaries in all — are expected to reach about 1.6 crore people.
So how much of Modi is this channel expected to market
A top official in the chief minister’s office said the channel has been rented for four hours a day, from 6pm to 10pm, and “the contract will be withdrawn when required”.
But then the move has its sceptics
“It’s a smart move to reach out to the maximum people but we are not sure it will bring in votes,” a party source said. “The development plank never works in elections.”
In stark contrast to what is appearing to be a expensive Presidential Candidate selection in the United States with quarterly fund raising figures alone in the tens of millions of dollars by front runners Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama, the Modi TV campaign will likely cost about 2.5 crores a month.
If that sounds like a big ticket item by Indian standards, consider how much the Government of India spends on publicity most of which btw is usually to promote the party in power. In 2000 the then Vajpayee lead NDA Government had released this report on I&B related expenditure can be rationalized. Then consider this, the Union Budget for 2007-2008 has estimated 84.80 crores to be spent on Advertisements and Visual Publicity by the DAVP alone with around 40 crores on display advertisements in 2006-2007.
While questions linger on how this will be funded and justified, one thing is for sure, the elections in Gujarat will be a high stakes game literally and figuratively. Offstumped will be watching…..
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it’s a shame taxpayer’s money is being utilized for doing such party propaganda and you seem to be excited about it!!
jujung – where am i expressing excitement ?
Type your comment here.
Great Idea by Modi. As the leftists will start talking about Gujerat riots,this development agenda is great for Modi.
I think Modi is going to be permanent fixture in Gujerat as Leftists have been in WB.
Ofcourse togadias and other fundementalists can do something to scuttle his development plank.
To a technocrat, this idea seems very good !…
But rightly as pointed out by some critics, one does not know how much this initiative will help the BJP in getting votes. We are quite well aware of the good “use of technology & new media” by Pramod Mahajan in the last general elections. Critics believe that it did not help the BJP electorally. Instead the “India Shining” plank hurt the BJP – as the theme did not go down too well with the “Suffering India” !…
It’s unfortunate. I don’t know whether it’ll work or not. But there is little recourse. The TV and news media has essentially shut out right of center view point on development and social issues.
It’s better to have more main stream right of center outlet than just a Modi outlet for few months. We’ll see if it’ll make any difference.
It is normal human psychology – people take those messages more seriously which come from “independent sources” or from a neutral party. Main stream media does indeed come in here !
Self-propagated messages are taken with a “pinch-of-salt”.
Doordarshan from Delhi and Gujarat is blatantly one-sided. DD-Gujarat is notorious in giving added footage to Congress-I happenings in detail, while cleverly suppressing any news items pertaining to Modi’s government. Some of the leading Gujarati newspapers are toeing Congress-I line while surreptitiously downplaying Modi’s government news items. There is a famous example of prominent Ramkatha preacher, Sant Morari Bapu, intervening in spate between Gujarat Samachar and Narendra Modi, and bringing about some sort of reconciliation between the two. GS has lessened the intensity of its frontal attacks on NM but is as much adverse to him as some other mainstream Gujarati media.
Modi TV is a misnomer of a name. Gujarat Government’s achievements as perceived by the Government are placed before the public without heroworshipping or eulogising NM personally. NM’s revolutionary ideas to bring about upliftment of women, Adivasis, or ‘aam aadmi’ as per Congress I’s jargon, are put before the public. There is no element or subtle hint of vote catching slogans or anything of the sort. If any govt. spends money for personal aggrandisement of its CM, the Comptroller and Auditor General, an independent office under the constitution, is there to checkmate the wanton expendtiure.
The fact of the matter is, all sections of people who are politically opposed to NM are purely jealous of his achievements and are no match to his wits and innovations.
If Gujarat votes out NM, under any circumstances, or gives him less than expected thumping win, no one would feel sorry among his distractors, but the neutral observers would get a tremendous shock.
After all, he is the only ruling CM of Gujarat, among 21, I suppose, who has completed his full 5 year term in office. That itself is his greatest achievement.
I will just add this as comment
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Energy/Power/Gujarat_to_achieve_self-reliance_in_energy_by_2010_Modi/articleshow/2429863.cms
The strategy this time is
“RAM AUR KAAM”.
Some evidences here…
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/Its_a_battle_between_Ram__Rome_Modi/articleshow/2430523.cms
[...] EC added a new twist with its guidelines on monitoring electronic content which could very well seeModi TV go off the [...]
[...] EC added a new twist with its guidelines on monitoring electronic content which could very well seeModi TV go off the [...]
Modi has done a far better job of administering Gujarat then any other leader and Congress instead of mud slinging and just accept the fact that they do not have any competent leaders. I am a realist and agree that there are corrupt leaders in both the Congress and BJP, but the glaring difference is that BJP has done atleast something while Congress leaders just believe in stuffing their pockets and giving no returns to the people whatsoever.