FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Nothing can help you understand India better than travelling on the campaign trail. Over the last four decades, I have watched several leaders march across the streets of this nation—armed with songs, slogans, sops—attempting to make a place in the hearts of the electorate. Elections are invariably the only time when our netas humbly ask for something and common people get to behave like their superiors, rejecting their false promises or deigning to give them a second chance.
Surprisingly, although the election dates have not even been announced, election campaigns are in full swing. This one seems more presidential than any other in history because it directly pits a reluctant Prince against the singleminded ambition of an Outsider who has forced his own party to fall behind him. India doesn’t always get such interesting head-to-head contests.
Two years ago, when Narendra Modi was seeking a third term as chief minister, I had travelled with him for a few days during the campaign. He was captivating and entertaining as he drummed up his listeners into hysteria with his extraordinary communication skills. That was Modi trying to woo a state he was in complete control of by dint of his development work over the course of 12 years. Now Modi is relentlessly applying these skills to canvass for the nation’s top job. Ranged against him is a formidable opposition force of the Congress and the Third Front who are trying every trick in the book to derail his bandwagon.
It’s been astonishing to see how Modi has been jet-setting across the country, engaging with people from different cultures, speaking to them in different languages, capturing television time slots and social media platforms. On February 8, for example, he addressed a rally in Imphal at 11.30 a.m., a rally in Guwahati at 1.30 p.m., a rally in Chennai at 7 p.m., and then attended three public events in Tamil Nadu and Kerala the next day. He has spoken in public at least 78 times, travelling approximately 45,000 km since he was announced as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate five months ago. Day after day, in city after city, Candidate Modi has not shied away from making the election a referendum on himself. His campaign’s subliminal message is that every vote for the party is a vote directly for him.
Although we have been reporting his election forays, not too much is known about the inner workings of his well-oiled campaign machine. Our cover story this week, therefore, goes inside the Modi campaign, taking you to places you haven’t been to before and introducing you to characters you haven’t met so far. The story, written by Deputy Editor Kunal Pradhan and Senior Editor Uday Mahurkar, brings to the fore Modi’s inner circle, the research teams that help prepare his speeches, and the war rooms that multiply their amplitude. Our reporters find that the Modi campaign’s network of young volunteers is not dissimilar to an American presidential campaign, in which every small town has campaign offices buzzing with youthful energy.
Just like Arvind Kejriwal had changed Indian politics last December by showing an alternative, anti- netagiri route to power, Modi is changing how elections are fought in India by introducing a new style of campaigning with a combination of meticulous planning and technology. In his last state election, he introduced a 3D holographic speech beamed to 53 locations simultaneously. This time, he’s started his virtual chai chats in 1,000 locations. He got on to social media when other parties thought Twitter was the sound of a bird and Facebook was a cosmetic. The day is not far when voters will seek a presidential-style debate between the principal contenders at every level.
Regardless of who wins, Modi has changed the way campaigns are conducted forever. It’s all for the better.