Narendra Modi The Future Prime Minister Of India

Too many journalists have proved guilty of projecting wishful thinking as analysis. Despite widespread media criticism, Narendra Modi won a landslide victory in Gujarat. Many journalists are now trying to explain lamely why they were wrong, and some hope he will be tamed or diminished in his second term.

I see things differently. I see Narendra Modi as a future Prime Minister of India, possibly even the next one. The prospect does not fill me with joy, but analysis is not about joyfulness. Just look around for young politicians who can move the masses, who can be more than regional leaders and make a national impact. I see no new faces, in or outside the BJP, to match Modi.Atal Behari Vajpayee is in poor health, and some believe LK Advani will soon take over from him, maybe in the next general elections in 2004. But Vajpayee might not step down. He might outlive Advani: there is little difference in their ages. Nobody can say who will pass away first.

By contrast, at 52 Narendra Modi is has many decades ahead of him. After his Gujarat victory he is obviously the star vote-getter of the party, leaving far behind older aspirants like Murali Manohar Joshi. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat may have some rival claims, but is an aged gentleman that has been kicked upstairs already. Besides, Shekhawat constantly needed help from others to form coalition governments. By contrast Modi won with a crushing two-thirds majority in Gujarat. You may hate him, but you cannot deny his vote-getting power.

Expect Modi to be a leading campaigner for the BJP in coming elections in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, and expect the BJP to win. Drought and fiscal bankruptcy caused by the Pay Commission award have made Congress governments in these two states very vulnerable anyway. Expect this weakness to be exacerbated by communalism, spearheaded by Modi.

The BJP no longer has to incite communal riots to inflame passions. Jehadi elements are doing it anyway, and handing over public sentiment on a platter to the BJP. Witnesse temple attacks in Jammu and Akshadharm. Expect more such attacks, and not on temples alone. Expect each attack to strengthen the BJP and weaken its rivals.A paradigm shift has taken place in Indian elections. The old aphorism, that all politics is local, now rings hollow.

International Islamic militancy, with or without Pakistani support, has suddenly become a major issue, whether secularists like it or not. Nobody knows who the temple attackers in Gujarat and Jammu were. A half-competent police would have stunned the militants with some device, captured them alive, and used interrogation to unearth the underlying plot. But our incompetent police killed them. The BJP claims they were Pakistani agents, and this is widely believed.

I have no doubt that the temple attacks greatly aided Modi’s victory in Gujarat, just as the Pakistani attack on Kargil ensured Vajpayee’s victory in the general election of 1999. In India, the quality of governance is so indifferent that incumbent governments tend to be voted out. But when a major security threat arises, when the state seems under attack by foreign forces, the incumbent is suddenly in a strong position to rally support provided it sends out an appropriately jingoistic message. The BJP is fully capable of this. The Congress is not. The Marxists are not. And so secular forces are losing out, while communal ones are gaining credibility. International Islamic militancy has taken root in our neighbourhood. The Taliban may have been ousted in Afghanistan, yet the city of Khost is being bombarded by al-Qaeda forces located in the autonomous tribal regions of the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan.

President Musharraf has lined up behind the USA, but Pakistan contains strong pockets of support for jehadi groups. Al-Qaeda is believed to have a major operation going in Karachi. Islamic militants have bombed churches and killed foreign businessmen, diplomats and local politicians. President Musharraf is trying to hunt with the hounds and run with the hares. He seeks to crush al-Qaeda and other extremists who want to assassinate him, yet he wishes to feed the militancy in Kashmir.I do not know who will win the internal struggle in Pakistan. But clearly the struggle will be long and bloody. Which means that we can expect constant new jehadi attacks on Indian temples and state institutions. Every time that happens, Narendra Modi will begin to look a prophet and crusader, and secular forces will find it difficult to gain the initiative. That is why I view him as a future Prime Minister.

Let me not exaggerate. India is a large, complex land with many social and economic problems that have nothing to do with militancy or Pakistan. Many of these other issues will dominate from time to time, which is why I do not expect the BJP to have a monopoly of power at the Centre or the states. Others will win from time to time. But unquestionably the jehadi phenomenon has created a bright future for the BJP, and for Narendra Modi.
[ An article of SWAMINATHAN S ANKLESARIA AIYAR, Published in TOI on Dec 21, 2002 ]

India under Modi would be an invitation for a perfect state?

(Brijesh Kalappa in Times of India) The Islamic Republic of Pakistan was born only in its quest to carve out its own religious identity. Although the founder of Pakistan Mohammed Ali Jinnah assured the minorities of Pakistan equal treatment, the treatment of the Hindu and Christian minorities in Pakistan is pathetic where they are second grade citizens. An entire range of Mullahs and Maulvis dictate important policy issues. The Jamat Ud Dawa whose founder is Hafiz Saeed receives crores of rupees from its patrons and from the state governments. The JUD, seen by India as a terrorist group, is associated with many humanitarian tasks in Pakistan.

Pakistan fits into the category of a failed nation since its focus is its own religion, without a care for its minorities - it has failed because it lacks a holistic outlook. A nation that takes account only of its majorities is a failed nation.

Similar is the Taliban who shot Malala in the head and drew the world’s attention to the crisis of extreme faith. The greatest destruction carried out by the Taliban was that of the eons old Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001 since Mullah Omar held that they were ‘idols’.

The BJP is opposed to ‘minority appeasement’ and caters exclusively to the majority community; it has the largest contingent of sants, sadhus and pundits as compared to any other political party in its parliamentary party. The patron of the BJP is the RSS which is associated with humanitarian tasks, but is seen largely by the Muslims in India and Pakistan as a group that resents their community, just as many Indians view the JUD. In 1992, the BJP destroyed the 5 century old Babri Masjid using a combination of hand held implements terming the operation ‘pralaya nritya’ the dance of destruction.

Narendra Modi, a highly articulate man, recently referred to those killed in the Gujarat riots of 2002 as ‘puppies’ and to himself as a ‘Hindu Nationalist’. With his powerful sense of imagery, he later alleged that that the Indian National Congress takes shelter under the ‘burkha of secularism’.

He has denied the Muslims, who number nearly 10% of the population, even a single nomination to the elections to the State Assembly first from Gujarat- and later similarly in Karnataka where the number of Muslims is 12%.

The 1970’s and 1980’s had huge banners and wall writings “the rich are becoming richer and the poor are becoming poorer”. Those were the days of Garibi Hatao and the deprived were justifiably angry with the rich for taking away everything and not leaving even the crumbs for them. From time to time, there would be a family elder who would prophesize that a revolution is coming that would end the woes of the people.

In the 90’s came Dr Manmohan Singh leaving the middle class with more money in their pockets- their numbers swelled. Along with this came a curious new transformation - where the well-to-do began baying for the blood of the most deprived. The term they gave for this- ‘minority appeasement’.

The 150 million Muslim population of India is the most deprived of all communities in India, next to the Dalits. The Muslims though constituting 17% of the Indian population have about 2% of government jobs. They hold less than 1% of all the land available in India. In urban centres - they are profiled and no decent housing is available to them. In proportion to their numbers, they have extremely poor representation in the legislatures- and even poorer representation in the police, bureaucracy and the judiciary. The Muslims ruled India for nearly 750 years - they now occupy the fringes of society. The ‘excesses’ of Muslim rule during the medieval ages is held against the Muslims, without due thought that if rampant conversion by threat of the sword had been the state policy, as is projected, the entire nation would have been Muslim in these nearly 750 years.

Medieval wrongs cannot be righted after a passage of many centuries. The human heart has to prevail upon the cerebellum that belated revenge will only serve to exacerbate this division among two communities. It is in this light that both Panditji and Sardar Patel invited the RSS to join the Indian National Congress give up its hawkishness and to work equally for all humankind. The RSS, instead devised its own political outfits- the Jan Sangh and then the BJP focused exclusively on majority interests.

A nation’s greatness is measured by the concern it shows for children, geriatrics, handicapped, women, animals and its religious and linguistic minorities. A nation that disregards any of these feeble communities is hurtling on the path of imminent failure. John Ruskin said “Great nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts- the book of their deeds, the book of their words and the book of their art.”

Narendra Modi Plans Comes Back To Your Door Steps

Narendra Modi Plans Comes Back To Your Door Steps



Narendra Damodardas Modi is one of the highest uttered word in Indian from 2002 still now. But why he is become most discussed word in India? This question's reply is not simple and giving reply may not be possible for me.
Narendra Modi was born on 17th September, 1950 in a lower class family as his father Damodardas Mulchand Modi tea stall keeper. It is heard that he was one of active worker of that tea stall along with his brother. After his schooling, he had joined as worker in staff canteen of Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation at the same bus terminal where his father's tea stall was. Modi got in touch with some RSS leaders in the canteen and he went under training in Nagpur as RSS trainee.In thus way, he entered in sangh parivar which continues till date.However he had completed Master Degree in political scienc from Gujarat University. He was the Gujarat chief of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad at his university period.He become the state general secretary of BJP and won the state election 1995. After some cold war between Shankar Singh Vaghela, he become the top of BJP in Gujarat as well as firebrand leader Sangh parivar.Modi was appointed as a Chief Minister of Gujarat on 7th October 2001 due falling health of his predecessor. The communal violence was brook out among Hindus and Muslims the Godhra incident. A large section of main stream media blame him for supporting rioters from administration but he always denied such charges. Some opposition leaders say if he would willing to control the violence then it would safe 5000+ peoples. After wards , the BJP won third consecutive election in Gujarat and he is still the Chief Minister of the state.

Probably PM candidate:-

It is known to all that Gujarat is on of the developed state in India from pre-independent era to till date due to natural resources as well as workaholic nature of the people. Modi has encouraged the people to do more for success and a section of Gujarati people have got the success which may be one of the idle mantra for Modi. There is no doubt , he is a workaholic and an introvert people who is also interested in poem writing.Finally he has been able to become the chief of national election committee of the BJP which is the way for Prime Ministerial candidature.

Gujarat print media now find high readership demand for Modi related articles and cartoons

(Urvish Kothari in http://www.mxmindia.com) Blatant and vitriolic criticism of Narendra Modi seems to have become the norm for Gujarati dailies of late. Gone are the days when the Gujarati print media, with an average issue readership of more than 1 crore (according to IRS 2011-Q2), mostly adored the chief minister. It supported, or at least was non confrontational about his publicity blitzkrieg and his self-projection as a tough, non-corrupt, pro-development, ‘No. 1’ leader with a subtle and not-so-subtle communal slant.

As is evident from events of the last few months, Modi has been constantly at the receiving end in many issues — be it the arrest of Sanjeev Bhatt or his three-day Sadbhavana Fast. The prominence and the column space allotted to arrest and release of IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt in the Gujarati media would have been unthinkable a couple of years back.

While English dailies reported the whole episode with restraint, news and images of Sanjeev Bhatt were being highlighted on first and last pages of Gujarati dailies. Bhatt was made out to be a ‘singham’ — a hero. The pro-Sanjeev Bhatt coverage was not just about appreciating the uprightness of the officer but was fuelled, to a large extent, by the anti-Modi ‘line’. Gujarati dailies had a field day when the late Haren Pandya’s wife vaguely pointed her finger towards the CM in her husband’s murder.

Recent rhetoric against the Modi government, which was, in effect, against Modi himself, took off from very unusual point: the issue of cow slaughter. The issue was hardly discussed in the public forum. But suddenly the failure of the Modi government in protecting cows became the war cry in two major Gujarati newspapers.

The purpose of the intensive news campaign that ran for days was to prove that Modi was un-Hindu, if not anti-Hindu. It was to falsify his deeply entrenched claim of being ‘the saviour of the Hindus’.

Even the usual non-political Modi-baiters were baffled by the anti-cow slaughter campaign which gathered momentum so suddenly. The stage was set, and then came the burning issue of the appointment of the Lokayukta.

Gujarati dailies grabbed the issue with both the hands, one daily even lowering its masthead with the news of the appointment of the Lokayukta by the Governor and the government’s legal challenge to it.

When the Supreme Court referred the Gulbarg Society case back to the lower court and declined to monitor it further, Modi famously tweeted ‘God is Great’ and projected the SC’s decision as a ‘clean chit’. Many news channels echoed his view, but Gujarati dailies were more cautious and less jubilant.

His three-day ‘Sadbhavana Fast’ was treated with scepticism and a pinch of sarcasm, due to the pomp and politics involved. There was criticism about the expenditure incurred during the fast and even the memory of Mahatma Gandhi was invoked for an uncharitable comparison.

Gujarati dailies have been vocal in making allegations of corruption and in giving considerable weightage to the statements of Congress leaders in Gujarat recently. A Gujarati daily recently devoted a full page to CAG’s criticism of various departments of the Gujarat government. A clean image no longer remains Narendra Modi’s USP, at least for the Gujarati dailies.

Mostly unfavourable and critical of Modi, for the reasons best known to them, Gujarati dailies have been conscious not to indulge in anything that may be perceived as ‘secular’ by a majority of their readership. During the Sadbhavna Fast, Modi’s advances towards the Muslim community were met with veiled criticism. One Gujarati daily even frowned at his attempted pro-Muslim approach in a eight column banner head line: ‘Allah-o-Akbar: Modi begins his fast’.

The real irony is, Gujarati dailies with their massive reach have been successful in reflecting general sentiment but their capacity to generate or shape public opinion has diminished considerably — more so in the case of Modi’s criticism. Yet, there is a strange equilibrium between the anti-establishment stance adopted by the Gujarati dailies and Modi’s wide-spread popularity.

There is a saying in Gujarati that two swords can’t stay together in one sheath, and that seems to be the case when one looks at the strange co-existence of flourishing Gujarati dailies as well as the sustaining popularity of Modi.

The Modi Mythology: Manufacturing consent, saffron style

(Jatin Gandhi, Open Magazine) In a recent visit to Chandigarh, I met a lawyer well known in Punjab for representing—often free of cost—hapless young women deserted by their NRI husbands. The discussion veered from the enormity of this problem to the next General Election and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s pitch for prime ministership. The lawyer was almost convinced of Modi’s vision and ability to lead the country because she had heard several stories in the past few years about the ‘Gujarat model of governance’.

But then, she said something spectacularly incredulous: Modi, she had heard, spends half an hour every morning on the internet solving arithmetic problems for IIT students. She said she had heard this from a senior police officer she had no reason to disbelieve. Both, it seemed from her conversation, were convinced of the BJP leader’s benign genius. While Chetan Bhagat’s achievements and ideas may have contributed to this impression of IIT students, what is amazing is how Modi’s mythology of superhuman accomplishments has penetrated the psyche of even those you’d expect would exercise a degree of scepticism when they hear something so fantastic.

Even a senior editor of The Times of India was ready to trust his sources who fed a story that was a bit too amazing. His report on Modi’s rescue of Gujaratis in Uttarakhand titled, ‘Modi’s Rambo Act, saves 15,000’ (TOI dated 23 June 2013) said, ‘Around 80 Toyota Innovas were requisitioned to ferry Gujaratis to safer places in Dehradun as were four Boeings. On Saturday, 25 luxury buses took a bunch of grateful people to Delhi. The efforts are being coordinated by two of the senior-most IAS officers of Gujarat, one currently stationed in Delhi and another in Uttarakhand.’ According to this report by Anand Soondas, the 15,000 stranded Gujaratis were ‘rescued’ in two days. This, at a time when the Indian Army was struggling to get just a few hundred people to safety every day.

Almost every day, the Indian media—and sometimes the foreign media too—is tricked or influenced by Modi’s Public Relations machinery.

And ‘machinery’ is the right word for it. It is large and consists of multiple levers, chains and cogs at several levels of operation. Its command panel rests with the CM’s office in Gandhinagar, and it has been working without a break to conjure a larger-than-life public persona for the Gujarat Chief Minister.

Before the Bharatiya Janata Party decided to throw its weight and might behind Modi’s pitch for prime ministership, this machinery was external to the party. For half a decade now, the Gujarat government has had PR and advocacy agencies, both national and international, working on contracts issued by it. Manufacturing consent across social media platforms, Modi also has teams in Bangalore and Mumbai. The BJP’s infotech cell, no less well equipped, has now geared itself to augment that apparatus. Apart from that, there are ground forces in the form of dedicated party cadres or Modi fan outfits (the likes of ‘Modifying India’ and ‘Modi for PM’ as they are called).

The Guajarat Government is in the process of finalising a new contract with a PR agency. The current contract, held by Delhi-based Mutual PR, expires in a couple of months. The government’s international contract, held worldwide by Apco, an American lobbying firm, ended in March 2013; it was estimated to be worth Rs 13 lakh a month.

A look at the ‘Request for Proposal’ document, which is confidential (available only to bidding agencies), reveals the mammoth task that managing the Gujarat CM’s public image is. The document issued by the state government says it expects the agency to hard sell ‘positive growth and developments happening in the state at regular intervals, or as and when asked to do so by the Commissionerate of Information’. The stated objectives of the exercise are: ‘to help shape favorable media opinion for Gujarat Government, both nationally as well as internationally…and… to position Gujarat as one of India’s leading states across sectors by increasing visibility and enhancing ‘top of the mind’ recall so as to make it an ideal destination among various stakeholders.’ The PR firm that wins the bid is expected to report to the state’s Commissionerate of Information and prepare ‘an effective Public Relations Strategy Plan for the Government of Gujarat with a vision for the next year’ while making ‘all arrangements necessary for the media coverage of any event when dignitaries from Gujarat, such as the Governor of Gujarat, Chief Minister or any other important dignitaries, on their visits to Delhi or any other part of the country or as and when asked to do so by the Commissionerate of Information’.

The Request document states that the hired PR firm should ‘arrange for national and international media to visit Gujarat and attend various events organized by the different departments of the Government of Gujarat’. Further, that ‘The number of media personnel for any event shall be decided by the Commissionerate after deliberation on the scale of the event. It is the Firm’s responsibility to arrange for the visits of journalists to Gujarat, any other part of the country or abroad. The expenses for the same will be reimbursed by the Commissionerate of Information on the submission of actual bills.’

Sources in Gujarat reveal that the state government has already borne the expenses of scores of journalists, paying for their flights, travel within Gujarat and stay on assorted occasions (and multiple visits in some cases). Senior journalists are usually assured of luncheon meetings with Modi, with seating plans drawn up to boost their egos. The current Indian PR agency has so far arranged meetings between Modi and a range of newspaper and magazine editors. Starting this year, the government also has a budget allocation for taking journalists abroad on Modi’s foreign visits.

Apart from acting as facilitators, the agency’s executives are expected to prepare press releases and articles, supply information to journalists for publication and telecast. This is par for the PR course, anyone would say, but while routine PR work does involve stiff targets, here is a list of what Gujarat expects, according to its Request document:

‘The firm should also strive to achieve the targets stated below:

» Publication of at least 6 major stories from the State in a quarter based on the input provided by the State Government in national News Papers viz. HT, TOI, Indian Express, Hindu, ET, etc.

» Publication of 6 major stories in regional newspapers in a quarter again based on the input provided by the State Government

» Publication of 6 major stories in a quarter in the major vernacular Newspapers with widespread coverage viz. Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Kannada, Oriya, Urdu, etc.

» Publication of at least one major story in national magazines viz. India Today, Frontline, Outlook, The Week, etc. based on the input provided by the State Government

» Coverage/ telecast of at least one major story every month in a major TV News Channel viz. NDTV, Times Now, CNN-IBN, AajTak, Zee News, Star News, TV Today, etc.’

PR industry insiders say that while Indian clients usually insist on assured numbers, PR firms rarely promise these in contracts. For the Gujarat government, however, most agencies are willing to make an exception. Mutual PR is said to have met its earlier targets successfully—a reflection on media gullibility if not complicity—and remains frontrunner among those vying for the latest contract.

Apart from achieving those targets, the PR agency is expected to follow the following practice: ‘Arrange for press conferences, one-to-one meets, roadshows or any other such BTL activities in consultation with the Commissionerate, or as and when instructed by the Commissionerate to do so.’

The devil is concealed in the details of objectives such as this: ‘Crisis perception management and informing the Commissionerate of Information about impending stories about Gujarat State / leadership.’ In effect, an industry insider reveals, this is where the dirty work comes in. The ‘leadership’ clearly refers to Modi. From slowly working on journalists and feeding them stories, and, in some cases, doling out advertisements to their employers, the state government does it all. ‘Crisis perception management’ essentially kicks in at times when Modi goofs up an interview with remarks like the recent one he made to Reuters about a puppy under his car’s wheel. Or when he told The Wall Street Journal in June 2012 that malnutrition among children under five was explained by middle-class girls in Gujarat being “more figure conscious than health conscious”.

The Request document clearly demands that the agency’s officials ‘monitor the presence of, and discussions about, brand Gujarat in social and political circles…This can be achieved through, among other activities, continuously monitoring and tracking all national and regional newspapers, magazines, TV channels, the inter-web, blogs and other channels of external communication at regular intervals.’

The government expects PR executives to ‘have close liaisons with correspondents, reporters, editors, photographers, think-tanks, critics, trend-setters and other such opinion leaders’.

Among the handful of agencies vying for the contract are Mutual PR and another Delhi based agency Avian Media. Executives at both agencies confirm they are bidding for it. 

“We are really too small to manage Mr Modi’s image,” says Kavita Datta, partner at Mutual PR, “We work for the government on creating awareness on development and social sector initiatives.” The targets set by the state government, Datta says, are not unusual: “When you are on a monthly retainership, you have to bring it down to deliverables.”

Nitin Mantri, CEO of Avian Media, confirms that his firm is in the race for the account, which is expected to fetch around Rs 5 lakh per month. Of course, the contract comes with a Non Disclosure Agreement.

“The original contract [won by Mutual PR four years ago],” says another source in Delhi, “was a pink paper contract meant for hard selling Gujarat in the business papers, but sometime last year, the Commissionerate started asking the agency to focus more on political reporters and mainstream papers than on business papers. This was also the time when the focus of these stories became more [Modi] personality centric.”

At the Vibrant Gujarat summit earlier this year, a list of 20 journalists was drawn for a luncheon meeting with Modi. On this list was Madhu Kishwar, editor of Manushi and a fellow at the Delhi-based Centre for Study of Developing Societies, who has turned from being a critic to an advocate of Modi. Internal communication accessed by Open shows that the agency was wooing Kishwar, something she firmly denies. She says that she is writing a book on Modi:

“I am going to include a chapter, I think, on the myth and reality of Modi’s PR. There is no PR. I have written angry letters to the CM’s office asking for information for which I have been waiting several weeks now. They are so overburdened.”

With Kishwar claiming she is oblivious to the machinery at work, the Gujarat government nevertheless gave her special attention because she was seen as one of the lone voices emerging from the ‘the Left liberal space’ favourable to Modi’s policies with ‘captive column space available to her in The Hindu, DNA and Manushi…’

Modi’s team in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar is led by his trusted aide K Kailashnathan, a 1979 batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer who was appointed chief principal secretary to the CM a day after he retired on 31 May. Earlier, before he was appointed additional chief secretary (a post he held till retirement) to Modi, he had been Commissioner of Industries and CEO of the Gujarat Maritime Board. He was the official in charge at the time that Gujarat privatised its ports.

In May, the charge of information and broadcasting was given to GC Murmu, a 1985 batch officer who had handled sensitive legal cases—including those related to encounter deaths—and forms a part of his core team. As home secretary of the state in 2004, Murmu was accused of ‘tutoring and coercing witnesses’ who appeared before the Nanavati-Shah Commission that probed the 2002 riots.

In Ahmedabad, the CMO coordinates PR efforts with the social media team in Bangalore put together by Rajesh Jain and BG Mahesh, who have gathered a bunch of over 100 techies in that city. Both Modi and the BJP, reveals a party source, see social media as a game changer for the polls of 2014. Both Mahesh and Jain, contacted by Open, decline comment. “I don’t speak about it to the media at all,” says Jain, who is based in Mumbai. “I can’t comment on any of it,” says Mahesh, “Someone from Mr Modi’s office will contact you.”

Jain is also the founder of NitiDigital, a company that owns the website Niti Central, known for its Modi tomtoms. In June last year, on his own blog he put up a post titled, ‘BJP’s project 275 for 2014’. In this, he argued that the BJP would need a wave election and should focus on 350 winnable seats. ‘The last wave election was in 1984,’ Jain wrote. He seems to have more confidence in the BJP’s vote-catching abilities than the party itself.

As Open goes to press, Modi’s Facebook page has over 2.3 million ‘likes’ while his Twitter followers exceed 1.9 million—no Indian politician has a higher count.

A proportion of those are fake followers, who include bots. There exist sites that sift real followers from fakes, but there is no uniformity in their statistics. What is beyond dispute though is that among Modi’s social media fans, there are millions of fakes.

The response of the BJP to this fact is predictable. “These figures are all rubbish,” says Arvind Gupta, head of the party’s infotech cell and a close Modi aide who is expected to lead the social media campaign directly at Modi’s behest. He adds that different algorithms throw up different results. But he does concede “you can’t know how many of these followers are voters”.

The BJP’s social media strategy, which now converges on Modi’s own after his appointment as its Campaign Committee chief, appears to rely on the fact that between the 2009 and 2014 elections, India has added close to 100 million new voters. In the previous General Election, the estimate of first-time voters stood at 60 million.

Among the most vulnerable to the elaborate PR machinery are members of the BJP itself. Their fascination with Modi has been evident ever since his elevation within the party. Spokespersons and leaders now defend Modi with the same aggression and ferocity that the Congress reserves for its first family.

Meenakshi Lekhi, spokesperson of the BJP, says that Congress attacks on Modi have increased after his elevation in the party, but the BJP has a plan to counter the Congress. This counter plan will surely focus on Modi.

Dissent within the BJP is at a new low as well. Thespian Amir Raza Hussain is the latest victim of the party’s new game; he was forced to resign as vice-president of the BJP’s Delhi unit after he praised LK Advani over Modi in a TV discussion.

Such a personality cult is not new to the BJP, but never before has the party fallen in line so meekly behind one man.