Also Read: More Than Secularism Much has been made of the fact that the BJP Manifesto mentions overtly Hindutva themes only towards the very end, condensed in a single page. Many intellectuals and talking heads – who in a subtle trimming of sails exercise have become willing accomplices in the Modi makeover – have used this as further evidence of Modi as a man of development and governance. To believe this, one would have to be blind to BJP’s ground campaign. A manifesto is a set of commitments made by a political party to the electorate to be fulfilled after coming to power. These are the promises that the Party cadre takes to the people while canvassing for votes. For each of these purposes, the manifesto was irrelevant for the BJP. In fact the saffron Party so delayed its release that the electorate of the first phase polls voted without getting a chance to absorb the manifesto. However the unimportance of the manifesto was evident much before. In this election, Modi is the manifesto; the man is the message. This is most obvious in Uttar Pradesh, arguably the most important state in BJP’s electoral calculations.
The Man Is The Message
The Man Is The Message
The Man Is The Message
Also Read: More Than Secularism Much has been made of the fact that the BJP Manifesto mentions overtly Hindutva themes only towards the very end, condensed in a single page. Many intellectuals and talking heads – who in a subtle trimming of sails exercise have become willing accomplices in the Modi makeover – have used this as further evidence of Modi as a man of development and governance. To believe this, one would have to be blind to BJP’s ground campaign. A manifesto is a set of commitments made by a political party to the electorate to be fulfilled after coming to power. These are the promises that the Party cadre takes to the people while canvassing for votes. For each of these purposes, the manifesto was irrelevant for the BJP. In fact the saffron Party so delayed its release that the electorate of the first phase polls voted without getting a chance to absorb the manifesto. However the unimportance of the manifesto was evident much before. In this election, Modi is the manifesto; the man is the message. This is most obvious in Uttar Pradesh, arguably the most important state in BJP’s electoral calculations.