Grow The Saffron Ecosystem

Grow The Saffron Ecosystem

This is a crossroads moment to grow the Saffron ecosystem, not for vanity or righteousness, but to push aside and eclipse the vast Congress/Left one, deeply embedded in our consciousness.

It is very important, politically, and not just culturally, to do this, as it is the only way to rejoin the broken pieces of a polity deliberately fractured into classes, castes, religions and regions, to suit the machinations of a Congress, in continuation of the British policy of divide and rule.

In that generous euphoria that followed the great win of May 16^th, 2014, nothing substantial was done to defang the UPA’s elaborate  communications infrastructure. 

So, it wasn’t very long, taking this government to be naïve, inept, and gauche, that Congress, with 44 seats in the Lok Sabha, still felt fit to mount a fresh challenge, accompanied by a veritable manufacturing plant of scurrilous propaganda.

It was decided to damn parliamentary etiquette, or reasoned argument, and amplify all the staged outrage and belligerence via a substantial presence in the Congress loving media. Money paid and advertising revenue gleaned naturally plays its part, but does not seem to be quite so effective for the BJP/NDA.

By way of contrast, the tiny AAP uses relentless advertising and controversial soundbytes to leverage its media profile quite masterfully.

The big mistake for the government, in hindsight, was not going on the offensive on UPA corruption and that of some of its allies and media supporters, from day one.

But now, suddenly, a humbled BJP, after two ignominious losses in state elections at Delhi and Bihar, has had its mojo restored. With the non-traditional Assam victory, the BJP/Sangh Parivar have been given another chance to set wrong to rights. So, what should the government’s communication strategy be at this juncture?

First of all, it should look to its resolve. To lack determination now, when opponents are once again lying defeated and supine, would be a fresh tragedy in the making.

If this opportunity is grasped firmly, and used properly this time, both as to changed election strategy/tactics, and the broader but yet vital universe of the public relations battle, it will lead to good fortune and victory, in 2017, ’18 and 2019, and perhaps, even another big one in 2024.

It could not only become a Congress mukt Bharat, but be enough years in the saddle for the BJP/NDA, to transform the country economically, politically, culturally, and militarily.

To cut through the jungle of misinformation and calumny that is assiduously propagated, what is needed now are some sharp new intellectual machetes; some moderation in the pitch and tone, and a broad sense of organisation.

Still, epithets like bhakts, chaddies, and trolls, are bandied about as if they were a birth right. Broader accusations against the saffron brigade include - escapees from the freedom movement, appropriators of history, obscurantists, misogynistic, communal. Modi has been likened to Hitler more times in these 24 months, than ever before.

This is a perfect time to increase the visibility and articulation of the broader saffron universe, as the party and government continues to relentlessly mainstream, broaden its appeal, and increase its national footprint.  It now rules in 16 states and 45% of the population there, plus the centre.

The BJP and its affiliates certainly, but also its many friends, need to ramp up their visibility in the visual electronic/digital media/ on You tube, as well as in print. This implies beefing up the media presence inclusive of acquiring/investing in media assets and infrastructure. There is only so much good coverage that one can expect from rival platforms.

The hundreds of ‘warriors’ or ‘Yodha’, as BJP president Amit Shah calls them, are doing an exuberant job of it on social media already.

Saffron think-tanks such as the Vivekananda Foundation and the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Foundation must articulate a public vision, and raise their level of media commitment and interaction, both via the visual and print mediums.

The official spokespersons from BJP’s media cell need their flanks covered by sympathetic others from the broader saffron ecosystem, including the corporate world, columnists that are right-of-centre if not party-line perfect, and people from the armed forces, the bureaucracy, the sports world, public intellectuals, the financial markets, the expatriates and NRIs, foreign- based think tanks/academia, manufacturing, software, construction etc.

These people, drawn into a saffron communications ecosphere by deliberate and coordinated induction, could add much nuance and shading to the bare-faced party-line.

Their advantage and credibility lies in the fact that they are NOT official spokespersons, but are nevertheless in sympathy with the general thrust. These soft-sellers could go a long way to counter and mitigate some of the provocative  propaganda unleashed by the other side, as also the outrageous and offensive remarks made by some parliamentarians/MLAs from the Lotus pool too.

Their involvement could add layers of commentary, strategic depth, and sophistication to the saffron narrative, broadening the appeal and  embrace of a centrist position, to draw in people who may not subscribe to, and are put off by, strident Hindutva tropes.  

This approach has worked very well for the other camp. Look at various from The Obsever Research Foundation, and Pratap Bhanu Mehta’s one man band, for example.

The celebrity universe too can be most useful and the saffron tent can gain by adding its own contingent of writers, poets, artists, actors,  comedians of the saffron kind. There is MP Paresh Rawal, of course, but others too have been drawn in, bringing both their star power and /or expertise to the table. Think of the much reviled Chetan Bhagat, who speaks his mind undeterred. And most recently the sticks and stones braving ‘Chintu’ Randhir Kapoor.  ‘Khilari’ Akshay Kumar declared a while back, and later so did the beautiful Raveena Tandon and the bald and bold Anupam Kher.

To win the mind and hearts game, as the Union HRD minister Smriti Irani fully realises, it is necessary to dismantle the old indoctrinating ecosystem too. It is no less pernicious than any Wahhabi madrasa, even though it is a house built by Congress and the Left. It is a formidable and tentacular thing, extending into the media, the universities, amongst the bureaucracy, in schools, colleges, into their staff selections and curricula.

Today Congress is weaker than it has been in decades, with just 7 states and 7% of the population in them, and so is the Left, with just the state of Kerala in their kitty.

It is therefore an excellent season to capture the initiative and build a superstructure for the saffron ecosphere that puts paid to the old order once and for all.

For : The Pioneer

(1,100 words)

May 23^rd, 2016

Gautam Mukherjee