Lamps, street plays, influencers: Inside BJP's plans for PM Modi's 76th birthday today

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is preparing to transform Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday into a nationwide outreach campaign, running from September 17 to October 17. The initiative, built around the concept of "seva" (service), aims to engage party and government machinery, from booth workers to chief ministers, in various service activities. One strand, "Seva Mera Yogdan," lists 25 activities, from blood donation camps to tree plantation drives, for citizens to participate in.

The campaign is not a single event but a network of parallel programs assigned to different party arms and state machinery. Party workers, government departments, schools, Anganwadi centers, digital influencers, NGOs, and elected representatives have been involved. Nodal officers at block, district, and state levels monitor the implementation of each component.

State education departments have been instructed to frame their official communication around "Viksit Bharat Sankalp" and "25 years of service work" without mentioning the PM's birthday directly.

A notable aspect of the campaign is "Ashirwad Ka Diya," where booth workers will visit the homes of scheme beneficiaries on September 17 to light a lamp as gratitude for welfare schemes. Schools are participating in a drawing and speech competition, "25 Crore Children’s Dreams of India," and street plays, "Nukkad nataks," are being staged nationwide to retell 25 years of welfare schemes through music and drama.

Digital influencers and content creators are playing a significant role, with "Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra" taking them to sites showcasing government changes.

The campaign culminates on October 17 with the "Jansevak Mahakumbh," involving around 125,000 sarpanches and public representatives. The event includes a mass rendition of all six stanzas of Vande Mataram, aiming for a Guinness World Records attempt.