New BJP app for #ModiOnceMore

New Delhi: Amid indications that the coming Lok Sabha elections will be one of the toughest electoral battles for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, the ruling party has launched a social media campaign #ModiOnceMore to recreate the 2014 “NaMo wave”’ and re-enact the euphoria, which had found massive support among the masses, in particular the youth, during the last Lok Sabha poll campaign. The campaign is aimed at garnering support and, most important, volunteers for the BJP, the “largest political party” in the world.

The hastag #ModiOnceMore saw not only BJP president Amit Shah and senior leaders and Union ministers re-tweeting the hastag, which pledges support for Mr Modi, but party supporters also nominated others with the hashtag. Mr Modi also tweeted the hashtag and the accompanying video of a nearly two-minute-long theme song, carrying video clips and photographs of Mr Modi’s 2014 campaign when the party swept the general election by bagging 282 of 543 parliamentary seats.

Trying to recreate the 2014 euphoria, the theme song has lyrics like “kuch aankon main sapne ummeden liyen the... paayi thi manzil diya sa jale the... hamara tha jaadu, hamare hai sapne... na koi paraya saare the aapne... karo yaad kaise ladi thi ladayi... mile haath sabke fatah kar chale the... usi jang ko phir aage badana....”

Even the Prime Miniser tweeted on a party supporters’ tweet with the hashtag: “Our party is blessed to have the support of such hard-working volunteers. My best wishes to everyone. Happy volunteering :)”

BJP president Amit Shah also tweeted the hashtag and the theme song: “No organisation can excel without selfless volunteers. BJP is very lucky and blessed to have such dedicated volunteers working relentlessly to realise the dream of  para vaibham netometath swarashtra... Let us work hard to create history in 2019. ModiOnceMore”.

Though the BJP along with its then allies, some of which have left since then, had captured 336 Lok Sabha berths in 2014, recent electoral losses and growing unrest, particularly among farmers, dalits, youths and a majority of the middle class, are indications that it will be a tough challenge for the saffron party to maintain that strength.

Also, losing three key states to the Congress — Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan — has not only given an impetus to an already resurgent Rahul Gandhi-led Congress, but also dented the morale of the saffron cadre. Unsurety over whether or not the BJP-led NDA government will take any positive step over the Ram Mandir issue has also left a certain section of the party’s votebank miffed even as the Sangh Parivar is putting pressure on the government to resolve the issue at the earliest.