In 2004, Indians witnessed a campaign called “INDIA SHINING” and are now being subject to what is being called “BHARAT NIRMAN”. There is a huge debate on whether there exists any difference between the two campaigns? Another discussion which is making rounds is that if “INDIA SHINING” was responsible for the debacle of BJP in 2004, has Congress also decided to fall in the same black hole come 2014?

I wonder why we are even having these debates about these campaigns. Have we even analyzed whether our voter has evolved to that higher pedestal where she leads a minimum living standard and needs that “last mile support” in the form of a motivating campaign inviting her to be a part of the “change”. Is she even equipped to be a part of that “change” and on top of that does she even knows what “change” is being visualized? Public money to the tune of Rs. 150-200 Crore is being spent to create a positive wave of excitement to trap the sadly forgetful Indian to gather votes for the party in power in the upcoming elections.

USA has seen many victorious political campaigns which swept their entire nation. One such blitzkrieg was “YES WE CAN” and “COUNTRY I LOVE” which managed to drive Barack Obama home. This campaign was based on developing an emotional connect between a leader and the people of a country where literacy rate itself is 99 per cent with a HDI (human development index) of 0.937 (highest possible being 1). Don’t we need to first carry out a revolution bringing up our people to a level where they have trust in India’s system and processes, 100 per cent education levels and very strong HDI?

Every Indian state today is following the centre’s strategy and recklessly spending public money on advertising their self proclaimed achievements through newspapers, television channels and radio. How many such campaigns are based on electorate feedback? The sad answer is none.

When a FMCG company advertises a product like soap, it is based on in depth marketing research. This research is supported by customer feedback where the customer is obviously king and finally goes on to decide the fate of the product. Is the voter not king for the elected leaders? If he is the one who decides their fate then why is he not surveyed before releasing any information through any form of media? I am sure that if we run a questionnaire asking the people across India’s states about the performance of the current government (2009-2014), it would yield a dismal response. “Are you better off than you were 5 years back?” and the obvious answer from a majority of the randomly selected sample would be “NO”.

The opposition party in India is losing out on time and as the election draws closer, I am sure that they will also come up with a campaign which will have a portion blaming the ruling party enlisting their wrongdoings while the rest of it will comprise of macro-level tall claims of what they will do if voted to power. My question remains, “have we asked the public?”

It is only when we will go and ask the farmers, rickshaw pullers, cobblers, vegetable vendors, paan wallahs, taxi drivers in every city/town/village that we will get the actual response on whether the people are leading an improved lifestyle then they were a few years back. This is the true barometer which will help us design future strategy/amend current policies. Reckless publicity is just to eyewash the people of this country. Beware and introspect.