Last Updated:
BJP’s ‘Tiranga Yatra’ will see the party crediting PM Modi’s leadership, while highlighting opposition statements that came across as tacitly supporting Pakistan
On Monday, PM Modi reminded the world that he still believes it’s not the age of war but “neither is it the age of terror”.
Operation Sindoor is “paused”, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi puts it, setting narrative of a “new normal” of “crushing terror universities” like Bahawalpur and Muridke. In probably one of his most straightforward addresses to the nation, PM Modi refused to take any credit but showered praise on India’s tri-service, paramilitary, and scientific community for Operation Sindoor.
Stressing that it was Pakistan that requested for a ceasefire, the prime minister warned: “I am repeating; we have just suspended our retaliatory action against Pakistan’s terror and military camps. In the coming days, we will measure every step of Pakistan on the criterion of what sort of attitude it adopts ahead.”
But in this age of information warfare, where Pakistan has flooded the internet with doctored video to suggest it demolished India’s prized S400 air defence system, or their prime minister’s midnight press conference claiming “victory”, how does BJP plan to take Modi’s message of “India struck at the heart of Pakistan”?
MODI’S MESSAGE IN 10 LANGUAGES
On Monday, PM Modi reminded the world that he still believes it’s not the age of war but “neither is it the age of terror”. The prime minister, using the occasion of Buddha Poornima, sent out the message of peace but with a caveat: “The path of peace also goes through power”.
For those who wondered about US President Donald Trump’s offer of mediating in the Kashmir matter, Modi left nothing to confusion for the domestic crowd. “Today, I would also like to tell the global community that our stated policy has been: if there are talks with Pakistan, it will be only on terrorism; and if there are talks with Pakistan, it will be only on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).”
But the problem lies with the language in which he spoke—Hindi. According to the 2011 census, only 43.63 per cent of the people in India can speak Hindi. The southern and north-eastern states, apart from Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, have a very low percentage of Hindi speakers. For instance, in Tamil Nadu only 2.3 per cent speak Hindi. So how will Modi’s message reach them?
The government used Artificial Intelligence and dubbed PM Modi’s speech in 10 regional languages in an hour’s time—Telegu, Bengali, Gujarati, Assamese, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, Punjabi, Kannada and Odia. They beamed the regional versions in respective Doordarshan channels and released on YouTube channels, garnering massive eyeballs and taking the message deep.
BJP’s TIRANGA YATRA
If the government is taking Modi’s message of “We have defeated Pakistan every time” to the masses with multiple languages, the BJP isn’t sitting idle either.
The party now plans to hold a 10-day nationwide mass connect movement through which it plans to not just portray a brave face of the BJP-led Centre but will inevitably do a contrast of response between Congress-led UPA era and BJP-led NDA era. The movement will be called ‘Tiranga Yatra’, which is expected to kick off from May 13 and will continue till May 23.
BJP will not just hold press conferences across major capitals, but its member of MPs, general secretaries, and even select Union ministers, will be asked to tour certain states where they will reach out to intellectuals, senior citizens, trader bodies, clubs among others, say sources. BJP’s Yuva Morcha and Mahila Morcha will also be used during this ‘Tiranga Yatra’ where the goal will be to claim victory and credit PM Modi’s leadership, while highlighting opposition statements that came across as tacitly supporting Pakistan.
BJP will mount a social media campaign with regular multiple reels on Instagram targeting the youth, while the cadres will distribute leaflets highlighting, in bullet points, why Operation Sindoor is a ‘gamechanger’, a BJP source told News18.
With Bihar election scheduled in the year-end, less than six months from now, one can expect BJP to become more aggressive in its narrative war in the coming days.
- First Published:
