BJP sources said the CM has earmarked a budget of close to Rs 1 crore for each of the 182 assembly constituencies and a staggering Rs 50 crore for promotional campaign.
AHMEDABAD: It is set to be the mother of all electoral battles and the costliest in the history of Gujarat. With chief minister Narendra Modi pitted against rivals from both within and outside his party, the BJP is learnt to have earmarked a budget of a whopping Rs 250 crore to be spent in the run-up to polls later this year. The average poll expenditure in the earlier assembly polls in the state has barely crossed the Rs 40-crore mark.
BJP sources said the CM has earmarked a budget of close to Rs 1 crore for each of the 182 assembly constituencies and a staggering Rs 50 crore for an elaborate promotional campaign.
Incidentally, the Election Commission of India’s cap on election expenditure for each candidate is Rs 5 lakh, a norm which is routinely flouted.
BJP leaders said the focus of the entire election campaign would be Modi, and he would be projected as BJP’s anti-terrorism mascot and an icon of development and good governance.
The party has planned a publicity blitz, akin to the one the BJP had indulged in during the ‘India Shining’ campaign during the last Lok Sabha polls, by tapping both mobile telephony and internet for online promotion.
The BJP media cell has a team of 50 people which includes hired professionals who would manage online promotional campaign and would send emails, SMSes and maintain blogs on the CM. “Our theme is Narendra Modi. Project state’s achievements as Modi’s. Portray him as an anti-terrorism and development mascot,” said a source.
A huge amount of money is also being spent on events organised to promote government’s tribal and coastal region policies as well as ‘mahila’ welfare schemes over the past few months. The BJP spends about Rs 2-3 crore on each of these events and will have organised close to 100 by the time the state goes to polls, said sources.
Opposition Congress is anxious about the BJP using money in a big way to influence polls. “We will approach the ECI to request it to monitor the election expenditure in Gujarat closely,” Opposition leader in the Assembly Arjun Modhvadia said.
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