Having turned Manishankar Aiyar’s barb into an opportunity, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will file his nomination papers from the Vadodara constituency on Wednesday, with a chaiwala among those to propose his name.
According to sources, Modi will reach the party office in a massive and colourful rally, from where he will proceed to the District Returning Office to file his papers. Among his proposers will be Kiran Mahida, a chaiwala in Khanderao Market of Vadodara, and a member of the BJP since 1990.
With Modi being named first as the BJP’s campaigner-in-chief and later as the PM aspirant in 2013, this “model” of image-building got a boost.
According to sources, its strategy was simple: promote Modi as the only leader of consequence in the BJP, and target select voter groups, like youth and farmers. This “shopping model” worked professionally to sell the product, Modi, to as many customer-segments as possible.
The BJP leader was sold to chaiwalas across the country through his periodical Chai pe charcha, which struck a chord among the masses. This, like Kejriwal’s image-makeover as someone fixing electricity meters, became a force-multiplier for Modi. His image as a tough, no-nonsense administrator and boasts of his 56-inch chest, among others, helped him project himself at the national level.
Always in news Modi, with his mastery of political communication, remained in news continuously, for various controversies.
Modi merchandise flooded the market ever since the “Modi masks” emerged in Gujarat. These include saffron caps, tee-shirts and even a balm.
In the current polls, the Modi team, comprising hundreds of tech-savvy youths who often overshadow the RSS and BJP machinery, has seen to it that the product is continuously advertised.