Modi pitches for aggressive counter to UPA blitzkrieg

Ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh releasing the UPA report card on Wednesday, Leaders of Opposition Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley will address a joint press conference, exposing the failures of the government. Anita Saluja New Delhi: Nervous over the UPA tom-tomming its achievements with a massive ad campaign, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who fancies himself as the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate, has pressed the panic button for the party. At a hurriedly-convened BJP Parliamentary Board meeting, Modi, who is yet to be named Chairperson of the Central Campaign Committee, took upon himself the task of underlining the need for aggressively publicizing the failures and the scams of the UPA government, especially on the social media network. Since youth is hooked on to social media network, this is the best way to reach out to the younger generation, he argued. All this while, the BJP leadership at the Centre had adopted the "wait and watch" attitude, riven with factionalism at the top.

At the behest of Modi, the BJP will soon come up with a blueprint for launching a counter-offensive against the UPA advertisement blitzkrieg. Modi, who masters the art of running a campaign on the social media network, is peeved that the party is sitting quiet, while the UPA has taken the lead in showcasing its achievements, where there are none. Attending the BJP Parliamentary Board for the first time, Modi, sources stated, tutored the party top-brass on how to aggressively counter any moves of the Congress-led UPA government, whether it is publicizing their achievements or presenting a report card to the nation on its ninth anniversary. Ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh releasing the UPA report card on Wednesday, Leaders of Opposition Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley will address a joint press conference, exposing the failures of the government. Later, Jail Bharo agitation would be taken-up from May 27 to June 2. Modi is peeved that instead of the BJP, which should have left no stone unturned in exposing the failures of the UPA government, it is the Congress that has taken the lead in launching a series of ad-campaigns to project its achievements. Interestingly, Amitabh Bachchan's ads on Gujarat have taken a backseat, while Bharat Nirman campaign has virtually stormed the electronic and the print media. The Sadbhavna promo launched on the Youtube by the Information& Broadcasting Ministry on the eve of Rajiv Gandhi's death anniversary, talks of amity and brotherhood among various communities. The ad is seen as a rebuff to the Modi's divisive politics. Sources stated that the BJP Parliamentary Board meeting was a precursor to the BJP Central Office-Bearers meeting on June 7 and the BJP National Executive meeting slated for June 8-9 in Goa, where resolutions will be adopted. Modi, who is all set to lead the party campaign, has already managed to bring his supporters on to the party centrestage by assigning bigger roles for them. His right-hand man, Amit Shah, who was chargesheeted in the Sohrabbudin Sheikh fake encounter case, has been made incharge of Uttar Pradesh, the State which sends 80 MPs to Parliament. Modi, himself, plans to contest from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, trying to emulate Atal Behari Vajpayee. Since the BJP is eyeing to increase its seats-tally from UP from where it secured only 10 seats, Modi has been given a free hand by BJP President Rajnath Singh. The latter is reluctant to hold responsibility of the major State, though he, himself, hails from the region. Having managed to accommodate all his supporters in important panels of the party, Modi is in no mood to take a backseat and has urged his colleagues to get going if they are really keen to topple the UPA government.