A long roadshow split over two days that saw over a million Bengalureans come out on the streets – this was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s final campaign pitch in the Karnataka elections last week. The PM did multiple rallies in the poll-bound state but it was his roadshows in Bengaluru and Mysuru that have captured the most eyeballs.
BJP leaders and government sources told News18 that big roadshows by Modi have now become central to all campaign plans and most PM visits to other states, as they get many times more response and public engagement than a public rally. The success of the PM’s roadshows in Varanasi during last year’s assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, his “historic and longest” 50-km-long roadshow in Ahmedabad during the Gujarat elections, and now the Bengaluru event stand testimony to this.
So what is the difference that the PM’s roadshows bring to the table? People experience the personal connect of Modi during such an event as he waves and gestures at them for hours together, the middle-class voters come out to see him in their vicinity while they may not go to a public rally, the elderly joining the campaign, and a far more organic response with people recording their memories by taking the Prime Minister’s photographs or videos up close, senior BJP leaders say.
“All this may not happen at a public rally when the PM is at a distance on a stage,” a BJP leader explained. For starters, the elderly and the middle-class voters may not take the pains to go to a public rally, or bring their children to one. But if the PM’s roadshow route falls in your neighbourhood, there is a far more chance that such voters would come the short distance to the road to watch the PM. This was evident in the Bengaluru roadshow when many elderly people and people with children were seen lining up on the road to see the Prime Minister.
The other major advantage in a PM roadshow is Modi’s personal connect. “Modi can be seen up close during a roadshow by a person standing on the side of the road, compared to a rally. Also, the PM is very interactive personally and shows a lot of energy compared to his opposition counterparts. So he will wave at you, throw flowers at you, and that is a moment of a lifetime for someone. The public response is far more organic as people click pictures and record videos of the PM and then share these on social media,” a source said.
The BJP has hence realised that the “engagement” with a Modi roadshow is much more with little need to mobilise any crowds. While a rally may reach 40,000-50,000 people for a moderately-successful rally, a roadshow reaches nearly 10 times the number of people. “Even in Tamil Nadu, the PM’s roadshow in Chennai last month got a phenomenal response though it was not a poll-bound state,” a source explained, making BJP now factor in Modi’s roadshows during most visits to states.
The BJP has found a new campaign but a factor in the PM’s roadshows remains the security issue with Modi in close proximity to the masses. A couple of recent incidents of mobile phones being thrown at his vehicle during roadshows have alerted agencies and one could see stricter SPG security cover on and around the PM’s vehicle during the twin road shows in Bengaluru.
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