For 2019 poll, BJP and Centre build brand 'Modi the messiah' of poor

Govt keen to take ownership of central schemes

Some months ago, the Centre relaunched a scheme to provide affordable medicines as the Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana, which had an intriguing acronym, PMBJP. But the name was refined again and the scheme is now known as Pradhan Mantri, or Prime Minister, Jan Aushadhi Yojana, or PMJAY. In Hindi, the acronym means “hail the PM”, and this is exactly how it is being played by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on social media.

The renaming of the scheme is not just an inventive effort to pair the PM’s image with that of his party, and to laud his leadership.