In the TV media, the only fight that seems to be
happening is between is between Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal. The root of
AAP's hostility towards NaMo can be traced to it's electoral ambitions in and
around Delhi. Western UP has a 25% muslim population, their make or break
strength in Chandni Chowk and Gurgaon, the constituency of key Arvind
lieutenant Ashutosh and party ideologue Yogendra Yadav respectively.
The part knew that come LS elections, they would
loose a huge percentage of their vote to BJP as it would be fought on one and
only one issue - Narendra Modi.
Their chances of a bigger LS tally would hinge on
their ability to garner the traditional anti-BJP vote- the sunni muslim vote.
Yogendra Yadav sensed an opportunity to garner this vote when he conducted
surveys in muslim dominated assembly constituencies and found that a lot of muslims
didnt vote for AAP because they did not see it as a strong enough challenger to
BJP. The solution to their problem was to attack NaMo in full media glare and
make an impact on this perception. Thus Arvind who had all this while, not been
to vocal in his opposition to Narendra Modi started writing letter demanding
answers (answers which interestingly was already available). The BJP wallahs
made a strategic mistake when they decided to ignore Arvind as a temporary
urban fad. Even R Jaggannathan of Firstpost opined that NaMo should ignore
Arvind by not fighting in Varnasi as it would be akin to handing over candy to
Arvind and NaMo would loose a lot of time in Varnasi itself . This proved very
costly to them in the long run.
Then the new-age commie decided to do a 'study
tour' of Gujrath. The AAP leadership had understood that their vote share
increase will be proportional to their visibility and visibility meant
effectively crafting an effective media strategy. The media obviously will lap
up anything that is good for their TRPs so AK headed to Gujrath and a huge
media contingent from Delhi followed. The most important part of this was these
AAPwallahs getting the tactic backing of NDTV they received . NDTV at this
point of time was searching for a new torch-bearer for their brand Nehruvian
Socialism, and they knew that INC was a spent and if it got anything below 90
seats, the party would disintegrate rapidly. They found one in Arvind.
Their efforts produced a lot of dividends. ET and
the Hindu reported how the muslim membership skyrocketed in urban and
semi-urban areas.The commie then demanded an audience from NaMo despite having
no appointment and made a huge fuss about not getting one. He was relishing the
media glare, the visibility it brought. To an uninformed bystander, it would
seem that there were only 2 contestants to the PM gaddi- AK and NaMo.
Simultaneously, the middle rung AAP leaders
stormed the media studios with their blatant lies about Gujrath accompanied by
snippets about true failings of the Gujrath government. To them facts did not
matter, they would shout down any person opposing them by branding them as
communal and fascists.It was a brilliant political strategy . They utilised
NaMo's modus operandi against him and succeeded in their aims to a huge extent.
What they didnt realise is that in areas other than NCR and parts of western
UP, they had further divided the decisive Muslim vote and helped the BJP
immensely .
Then AK travelled to Mumbai and other parts of
Maharashtra but made a strategic mistake of his own. In a fund-raising function
, he told his audience -
"If our government comes to power then we
will set an inquiry into this. And along with media people, all will be sent to
jail," .
This was the opportunity the BJP was eagerly waiting for. Arvind's comment ensured 2 things
1)The media would try to avoid a tinge of bias by
giving less coverage to NaMo's huge rallys and his speeches in different parts
of India. This would help slowdown the NaMo juggernaut. This effect was
beneficial to the secularists.
2) Kejriwal lost the media's goodwill and
coverage considerably.
At the same time rumours
began floating that AK would take on NaMo in Varnasi. The rumours were
further aggravated by unclear statements by senior AAP leaders. These
were deliberate and carefully worded statements aimed at regaining media
interest in Kejriwal.
The commie announced this in sangh parivar's
southern base of operations- Bangalore. The BJP couldnt ignore the challenge
any more. There was strong consensus within the top echelons that thay
needed to fight back. A lot of BJP leaders started arriving at Ahmedabad to
figure out a strategy .It was ingenious and demonstrated the parivars ability
to fight back.The strategy was to hit the opponent when and where they least
expect it and hit hard enough to turn the tables of the debate.
Just after Arvind made the formal announcement of
contest in Varnasi, NaMo made his best and hardest attack yet on AAP- making it
out to be a Pakistani Agent and anti-national , while at the same time hitting
the Congress where it hurts most- AK Anthony. The AK Anthony attack served a
dual purpose-
1- Distracting the strategist in chief from party
affairs,as he knew that a distracted, angry Anthony would not be a good
strategist.
2- Continue it's strategy to woo the crucial
ex-servicemen votebank.
The AK-49 jibe http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/modi-targets-kejriwal-ak-49-an-agent-of-pak/
served a dual purpose too-
1) It put AAP on the defensive on an issue that
is dear to the urban middle class- National Pride and Security.
2)It signalled the BJP second rung leaders into
action,going into attack mode, they turned the tables in such a way that the
agenda would now be set by NaMo and NaMo alone.
This as expected lead to an all-out social media
was with Arvind tweeting:-
'Did Modi ji
call me an agent of Pakistan and AK 49? Kya PM ke daawedar ko ye bhasha use
karna shobha deta hai? .....'.
He is clearly on the backfoot and desperate to
find a good way to fight back. As of now it is advantage NaMo. What I am sure
about is that it will be an entertaining 2 months ahead.
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