'Over four crore houses under PM-Awas Yojana바카라 바카라 A board in a railway station announces in upper case letters. Next to it, stands a cutout of Prime Minister Narendra Modi handing a cardboard-made key to a woman. Both of them are smiling. In front of the board, a man uses his thela as a pillow and sleeps on the cold floor of the station. His head covers a portion of the board that says 바카라This is New India바카라.
Upon a closer look of the picture, one will find two more persons sleeping inside the so-called 바카라Modi selfie-booths바카라 where people can take photos of themselves with a Modi cutout. The images surfaced after an RTI response revealed that the Union government is allocating up to Rs 6.25 lakh for each permanent 3D selfie booth and Rs 1.25 lakh for each temporary booth featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi's image at railway stations.Â
The messaging was clear. Thousands of people visit railway stations every day. They would then be swayed by this cutout which displays PM Modi바카라s achievements. But will they?
Opposition to brand Modi
A couple of days ago, a young man saw a chariot with the name 바카라Modi Sarkar바카라 accompanied by government employees under the Central Government바카라s Vikasit Bharat Sankalp Yatra at Sonyachi Shiroli village in Kolhapur district바카라s Radhanagari tehsil.Â
In a video that went viral, the man was seen questioning the employees as to why 바카라Modi Sarkar바카라 was written on the chariot instead of 바카라Bharat Sarkar'' or 바카라Government of India바카라 as the scheme being promoted is that of the government, and not Modi 바카라 a question that probably many within the country have.Â
The BJP has for long tried to establish PM Narendra Modi as a strong and trustworthy leader. The party tries to reinforce this 바카라Modi magic바카라 not just ahead of elections but across diplomatic events, during promotion of schemes and programmes and even in educational spaces. But it hasn바카라t come without resistance.
When the University Grants Commission issued a directive requiring colleges to set up Narendra Modi Selfie Points within their campuses, student associations and faculty alike, expressed fierce opposition.
A faculty member at a top institution said that the government was portraying every ordinary achievement as a spectacular one and attributing the credit to the Prime Minister, according to a report by Telegraph. 바카라This new directive is an addition to an existing list of activities by various government institutions to attach the Prime Minister's image to various initiatives. These things include the COVID-19 vaccine certificates and Rozgar Melas,바카라 the faculty member said. The directive was eventually rolled back.
This is not the first time that UGC has come under the scanner for 바카라being an extended arm of the government바카라. In 2021, the body had asked all universities, colleges and technical institutions to put up banners thanking Prime Minister Modi for "starting free vaccination for 18 years and above age group".Â
In a WhatsApp message sent to various university officials, UGC Secretary Rajnish Jain also asked the institutions to share the banners on their social media pages. The move drew sharp reactions from several quarters including academicians, student bodies and politicians.
"Mr Modi is not our first PM and this is not India's first vaccination programme. But the campaign against Covid-19 and the vaccine programme is being projected as a one-man show, a propaganda tool for the prime minister,바카라 said Peter M, a 62-year-old right to information activist and a member of India's main opposition Congress party.
For this reason, Peter wanted a new vaccination certificate 바카라 one without PM Modi바카라s face in it. When he petitioned against the same in the Kerala High Court, the court dismissed it, arguing that it would set a 바카라dangerous precedent바카라. India is perhaps the only country so far whose vaccination certificates have the Prime Minister's image.
Impact of brand Modi on voters in previous elections
The 바카라Modi factor바카라 has often been discussed and debated during elections. The advantage the BJP gets from Prime Minister Narendra Modi바카라s popularity바카라 which has been credited for the party's win in elections over the last few years 바카라 has often been referred to as the Modi factor.
According to the CSDS National Election Studies, in the previous Lok Sabha elections of 2019, not only did Modi get additional votes for the BJP but also for its allies in the National Democratic Alliance. Around one-fourth (27 per cent) of BJP voters in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and about a third (31 per cent) in 2019 said 바카라they would not have voted for the BJP if Modi was not the PM candidate.바카라
The recent drubbing of Congress and victory of BJP in the state assembly elections was majorly attributed to BJP바카라s election campaigns that were heavily centred on the Prime Minister. Data from the Lokniti-CSDS post-election survey indicate that nearly 19 per cent of BJP voters in Madhya Pradesh voted in the name of Modi, while in Rajasthan it was 24 per cent.
But the commonly repeated slogan of 바카라Modi hai to mumkin hai바카라Â (Modi makes the impossible possible) doesn바카라t resonate with the people of South India 바카라 as seen in election results of Telangana and Karnataka.Â
In Karnataka, the BJP relied on Modi바카라s popularity, by scheduling his rallies just a few days ahead of voting. Modi also enlisted the help of a polarising propaganda film, The Kerala Story, to appeal to Hindu voters 바카라 all of which did not help the party that eventually ended up losing the second-largest Southern state.Â
Similarly in Hyderabad, where Modi addressed a massive public gathering and conducted a road show, BJP only retained Goshamahal seat. The remaining seven seats it won were in North Telangana.Â
However, BJP still maintained 36 per cent of the vote in Telangana. And in Telangana, the BJP nearly doubled its vote share to 14 per cent.
