New Delhi: Getting foreign politicians to observe how the BJP fights elections, and taking foreign diplomats in India to various states to witness the country’s electoral process and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally — that’s what the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is planning this election season.
Vijay Chauthaiwale, the BJP leader in charge of the party’s department of foreign affairs, confirmed to ThePrint that representatives of 17 political parties from seven countries will visit India in the first week of May — between 7 and 13 May.
Meanwhile, diplomats living in India will participate in Modi’s mega rally in Delhi.
The idea is to give political parties a broad view of the BJP’s election campaign, Chauthaiwale said, adding that this initiative will not only showcase to diplomats the scale of Modi’s rallies but also give them a first-hand experience of how they are organised.
According to Chauthaiwale, politicians from Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Tanzania, Uganda, and Vietnam have confirmed their participation while representatives from a few other countries are likely to join too.
When asked whether it is a strategy by the BJP to improve its image globally, Chauthaiwale said: “Not at all. The BJP is the largest party in the world and India is the mother of democracy. So, there is an enormous curiosity about the BJP’s campaign all over the world, and it is an effort for these parties to get first-hand experience”.
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Interaction with state leadership, visits to media centres
Visiting representatives of foreign political parties will be taken to BJP-ruled states such as Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh to observe rallies and interact with candidates and the state leadership.
The aim is to allow these visitors to observe India’s electoral process and BJP’s campaign.
“The representatives will be taken to the media centres of the states and even constituencies. They will also move around to see how roadside campaigns take place. They will also meet the candidates and attend the rallies of national leaders,” this leader said.
According to another party functionary, these foreign leaders will be shown the NaMo app and interact with the national leaders.
The leaders will be split into three groups and taken to different constituencies for three days.
“They will engage with the BJP candidates, visit the party headquarters to meet with the social media teams, see the party’s ground campaign, and attend the roadshows and rallies of national leaders if they coincide with the visit,” this leader said.
A BJP source said that while leaders from China and Pakistan were not invited for the visit, those from Europe were busy with EU elections.
This isn’t the first time that the BJP has undertaken such an initiative. According to party sources, the party has been taking some diplomats living in Delhi to watch assembly elections in states such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat to watch the campaign.
“We are now following the same thing and another set of diplomats from Delhi will be taken to Rajasthan, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh,” the BJP leader, quoted earlier, said.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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