Twelve years after its much-hyped India Shining campaign backfired and led to the NDA’s defeat in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP-led coalition, in its second coming, plans to revive it with the aim
Twelve years after its much-hyped India Shining campaign backfired and led to the NDA’s defeat in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP-led coalition, in its second coming, plans to revive it with the aim of consolidating the rural vote bank as well as to spread the message of social harmony in those areas, especially in the aftermath of incidents like the Dadri lynching and the burning of a dalit family in a Haryana village last year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the “Gramoday se Bharat Uday Abhiyan” next month on Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar’s 125th anniversary on April 14 from Mhow in Madhya Pradesh, Ambedkar’s birthplace. Under the 10-day-long campaign, MPs, MLAs and Union ministers will have to spend some time in villages to promote the message of social harmony and rural development as well as discussing ways to strengthen the panchayati raj system. With the Uttar Pradesh polls just a few months away, the scheme holds a lot of significance.
A high-level meeting has been called by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in South Block on Tuesday of rural development, sanitation and drinking water ministers to discuss the modalities of the campaign, sources privy to the development told this newspaper.
“Bharat Uday” is “India Shining” in Hindi and the thought behind the title is to send across a message to the people at the grassroots that the government is focused on development work as well as spreading social and communal amity, sources added.
The move has come against the backdrop of the PM’s ambitious “Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojna” failing to take off in the midst of a lack of coordination between states and the Central government. With the government turning its attention to the new campaign, Mr Modi is aiming to interlink various initiatives being undertaken by the ministry of agriculture (Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sinchai Yojna, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Yojna etc) and the highest ever allocation to the MGNREGA to get desired results in the rural areas.
The Cooperation of all states and district-level panchayat will be taken to successfully implement the campaign.
On April 24, which will be the last day of campaigning for the forthcoming Assembly polls and is also observed as National Panchayati Raj Day, Mr Modi will address all gram sabhas of the country from Jamshedpur, which will be beamed to all the villages in the country.
