Poll-bound BJP boards no-frills flight

Rajesh SinhaThe BJP seems to have taken the austerity message to heart. At least that’s the message coming out of its low-cost, low-key campaigns for assembly polls in Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh.

A BJP leader said purse strings have been tightened partly because of the global recession and partly because it was felt that a low-key campaign would be more effective than the mega budget, “shrill” propaganda blitz adopted during the Lok Sabha elections. Many leaders felt the high-profile campaign went against the BJP.

Which is why, ‘low-cost, high-results’ is the motto for the state assembly elections, a BJP leader said. Chartered flights are definitely out. And even though senior leaders and “star campaigners” are not exactly travelling economy, they are taking regular service flights.

A few months back, the BJP had hired seven aircraft and 22 helicopters for campaigning during the Lok Sabha polls. Though the helicopters bit has been retained because of the tight schedule and the long distances, just five are being used. Three of these will ferry leaders across Maharashtra because it is a big state, has more constituencies and where the party fancies its chances. One helicopter each will be in Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh.

The BJP will be spending less on accommodation too. Even senior leaders will, at best, be put in three-star hotels. “In any case, many of the towns do not have five-star hotels,” said a leader coordinating the tour programmes.

In line with the new no-frills policy, the party has reduced spending on its media campaign. It’s definitely reduced spending on advertisements. The emphasis is on leaders and candidates reaching out to people directly. Though high-tech, high-cost methods may create good hype, but the BJP feels the good old methods of mass contact programmes, public meetings, rallies and door-to-door campaigns still work best with voters.