New Delhi: Just like in 2014, when volunteers and supporters of Narendra Modi had launched a massive campaign to create a buzz on social media and on the ground for the then aspiring Prime Minister, this time too, a pan India campaign, “Modi Once More” has been launched to take the message of the work done by the Modi government to the voters’ doors and to ensure that they come out and vote.
This campaign, which is absolutely volunteer-based and has roped in close to 3,000 technocrats, lawyers, teachers, chartered accountants and other professionals across 22 cities, was first discussed as part of a social media meet attended by Modi supporters in July last year. After this it was conceptualised with the objective to ensure maximum participation of voters in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
“This initiative started taking shape in September last year. Our focus is on the Tier 1 cities including the metropolitan cities. Apart from India, volunteers residing in four other countries, the United States, Hong Kong, Singapore and United Kingdom, too, are working towards this. It is entirely a voluntary exercise. We are very much active on different social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, Instagram and Tiktok to create awareness on the work that has been done by the Narendra Modi government in the last five years. We are using cartoons and graphics to make a lasting impact on the minds of young voters. These are being designed by three cartoonists among our volunteers,” one of the core group members of this initiative told The Sunday Guardian.
To reach out to young voters, the volunteers are also using rap songs to convey to the youngsters the positive aspects of the Modi government.
Last week, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav, who is the brain behind this initiative, BJP leader Vijay Chauthaiwale and Amit Malviya, who is in charge of the BJP information and technology cell, conducted a meeting of the volunteers of the “Modi Once More” campaign at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi.
The coordinator of the Bihar wing of this initiative, Guru Prakash, a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, said that the volunteers are also focusing on first time voters and have launched a special programme, “It’s My First Vote” to reach out to those youngsters who will be voting for the first time in the general elections.
“First time voters are our focus and we want to make sure that this segment selects leaders on the basis of their good work, rather than getting swayed by issues like caste and religion. We are sharing the work done by the Modi government in the last five years with the voters, so that they can decide why they should vote for Modi this time,” Guru Prakash said.
As per the Election Commission, at least 8.3 crore voters, of whom 1.5 crore are in the age group of 18 to 19 years, are first time voters, out of a total of 90 crore eligible voters. The difference between the BJP and Congress votes in 2014 was around 6.4 crore and it is these 8.3 crore voters who, according to experts, will decide who will come to power on 23 May when the results are announced.