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Advani tries recipe that took Obama to White House

If US president-elect Barack Obama could use a Hanuman talisman, India’s Hindu party has also borrowed ideas from his campaign for its prime minister-in-waiting LK Advani.

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Portal tracks every move of BJP’s PM-in-waiting, while web site presents his autobiography

NEW DELHI: If US president-elect Barack Obama could use a Hanuman talisman, India’s Hindu party has also borrowed ideas from his campaign for its prime minister-in-waiting LK Advani.

Obama’s appeal cuts across party lines in India - with the exception of the Left parties - but the highest form of praise through imitation has come from the BJP, which is employing similar tactics to project Advani in the campaign to put him in the prime minister’s chair.

Organising interaction with youth, people from different walks of life, different occupational or professional categories and exchange of ideas are part of this plan that seeks to take the campaign beyond the usual speeches, public meetings, demonstrations or agitation format.

The party’s IT cell headed by Pradyut Bora has a key role in all this. Going the Obama way to reach out to millions of people, the BJP has launched Advani TV via IPTV technique to popularise Advani. In the US presidential polls, each and every step, right from Obama’s candidature acceptance speech to his victory speech was watched the world over through this technology.

And here, the BJP has made arrangements to telecast live all functions and programmes attended by Advani through the dedicated portal www.lkadvani.in. Netizens will be able to watch every event of Advani at the click of a mouse. This is especially intended for the younger audience that the BJP is aiming at, to make the ageing leader youth-friendly. And the response is heartening for him and the party.

According to Bora, “This is an era of IPTV and the party has rightly decided to use the latest technology to cater the coverage of LK Advani’s campaign trail in the comfort of their homes to every person who wishes to see him live.”

The web site, www.mycountrymylife.com, on Advani’s autobiography, has been witnessing more than a lakh hits every month, the party said. The response encouraged the party to launch a dedicated portal for him. This addition of the live coverage through IPTV is slated to increase the popularity of the portal manifold, Bora said.

Incidentally, Obama, too, soon after becoming the nominee, had begun a biographical commercial campaign emphasising his patriotism. The Obama campaign also bought a channel on Dish Network to screen Obama ads 24/7. Obama’s team also ensured his campaign had a strong presence on social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, BlackPlanet and Linked In.

As with Obama, here too the biographical element is intended to present the leader as a person, portray the life of the candidate, his travails and triumphs.

There are some incidental similarities as well. Advani as prime ministerial candidate has attempted a makeover of his earlier image. Obama too made an effort not to be perceived as the same inspirational speaker they saw at the 2004 convention. Like Obama, he is far from the same man he was some years ago.

What is missing or different here is that, as yet, there are no campaign songs around Advani as there were for Obama. Nor is there a party website dedicated to counter “smears” by the opponents. And, of course, there never are any debates between the prime ministerial candidates.

s_rajesh@dnaindia.net
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