Lucknow (UP): Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to connect virtually to 50 lakh people in Uttar Pradesh in what is going to be one of the largest digital rallies in the poll-bound state. The BJP IT cell is busy preparing for the rally to be organised after Makar Sankranti (January 15).
BJP will primarily bank upon its robust social media presence to reach as many people as it can. Amid the restrictions on physical rallies, the party's digital team has geared up for a successful broadcast of PM Modi's address. Sources told ETV Bharat that BJP is using advanced technology including 3D projection to create a virtual replica of country's PM speaking to small physical gatherings of 100 to 200 people.
BJP, sources added, is exploring the possibility of getting permission to organise small gatherings at hundreds of places where people can watch PM Modi addressing them from the stage. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has barred physical political rallies and roadshows till January 15 amid the ongoing surge in Covid-19 cases across the country.
Five states are going to polls from February 10. Uttar Pradesh will see seven-phase Assembly elections from February 10 to March 7, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa will vote in a single phase on February 14. Manipur, on the other hand, will vote in two phases on February 27 and March 3. The counting of votes will be held on March 10.
An official of the BJP's IT cell told ETV Bharat that "tremendous preparations" were going on for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's digital rally.
"We have made a strategy to reach at least 50 lakh people. We are going to use advanced digital technologies to make this rally successful and ensure people not just see the PM but feel as if he is in front of them. PM will speak from Delhi but he will address the whole of Uttar Pradesh," the official said.
He hoped that the Election Commission will allow small gatherings after Makar Sankranti. "We will broadcast this rally in small gatherings by setting up stages, which will create an atmosphere of a physical rally. With this new medium of publicity, we will be able to reach more people," he said.
"Our digital warriors are making full preparations for the campaign. We will breathe life into it through the virtual medium," BJP's state spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said. In 2014, BJP had an upper hand as it used digital rallies and social media to its advantage in its mammoth election campaign.
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