 "Supporters outside BJP office ahead of the rally in Katihar")
There was unusual rush at the main election office of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Katihar. Demands ranged from getting badges to securing passes. Some people had to manage with caps or shawls as the demand far outstripped supply. In between, there were haggling, in hush-hush tone though, over settling taxi and auto bills of workers who had come from distant locations.
Outside the office, there was a large convoy of autos and taxis ferrying passengers to the rally venue. Excited people were chanting slogans. Demanding crowd was constantly reminded to stay calm as "Aaj Modi ji ka din hai (today is Modi's day)". Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to address a rally in Katihar after a few hours.
The build-up to the event gave enough hints that the rally was going to be a success. It indeed was - a large gathering, almost at par with the Prime Minister's two-dozen rallies in poll-bound Bihar. An eye witness told this reporter it took him 40 minutes to reach his car after the conclusion of the rally.
It was a result of days of meticulous planning. A team of 31 local functionaries was put in place to fix the nuts and bolts of the rally. They worked round the clock for 15 days to deliberate on issues ranging from sitting arrangement, to issuance of passes; from distributing T-shirts and caps to making arrangements for bringing in people to the rally venue. The team received guidance from state as well as national leadership of the party.
An aide of a local BJP candidate said: "We ensured the team remained insulated from the workload related to campaigning." As many as 10,000 cards were printed, which would double up as entry passes. One set of passes were sent to "VIPs of the constituencies" so that they could sit near the podium. T-shirts were in short supply and only 250 of them could be distributed in Katihar. However, there was no shortage of caps and small shawls.
Local leaders involved with the process of organising the rally said a few days before the November 1 rally, a team of women volunteers were sent to nearby localities with printed cards, reminding people to come for the rally. Around 250,000 cards were printed and distributed.
On the day of the rally, four important locations were identified in the city where people coming from outside would converge. They were then taken to the rally venue in auto rickshaws. And there were volunteers assigned to keep track of the movement. "We had set the target of bringing in 400,000 people to Modi's rally. We set an ambitious target of brining in at least 150,000 people from Katihar alone. And we expected people to come from adjoining districts of Purnea, Araria and Bhagalpur," said another local leader looking after the rally.
While the organisers of the Katihar rally kept insisting that people come on their own to take part in the PM's rallies, some participants as well as party workers in places such as Patna, Siwan, Motihari and Purnea districts indicated that there were transport arrangements to bring people to the venue. There was also a target for each unit of the party. Officially, however, nobody admitted that. "The scale may be different, but all parties make arrangements to bring people to the venue of rallies of important leaders. So why blame one and spare others?" asked a BJP leader in Purnea.
Just like organising the PM's rallies, the party has done meticulous planning in each of the seats it is contesting in the state. There is a main election office and 10-12 mini offices called 'shakti kendras' in each constituency. Each main office has 15 departments. Some of the departments are: sabha (the one that takes care of organising public meetings), awas (housing), khana (makes eating arrangements for workers), vahan (transport) and rally. There are three leaders to coordinate the works of all departments. And they are the ones responsible for coordinating with state and national units.
The task of campaigning, door-to-door or through small public meetings, has been assigned to a core team of 50-70 workers in each constituency. "While some of them accompany the candidate, others, especially the ones who have been associated with the party for a long time, are asked to address people's concerns and collect their feedback. This team consisting of not more than 50-70 people is the team of real workers," said a BJP leader in-charge of one of the shakti kendras in Siwan district.
However, BJP candidate from Katihar Tarkishore Prasad told this reporter that when it comes to workers, the BJP has plenty of them "as most of our voters double up as workers also since they share our ideology".
Workers on the ground and backroom planning have ensured the BJP's campaigning is most visible on the ground. "I have been touring the state for nearly three months now. The BJP's campaign seems to be everywhere - in rural as well as urban areas. Whether it translates into votes is a different matter," said a Patna-based journalist with a leading English daily.
