Project Dissertation THE STUDY OF MR. NARENDRA MODI’S GENERAL ELECTION (2014) STRATEGY: POST NOMINATION TO PRIME MINISTERIAL JOURNEY ANALYSIS Submitted by: Dishant Gosain MBA/2K13/25 Under the guidance of Dr. Vikas Gupta Assistant Professor DSM DELHI SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT Delhi Technological University Bawana Road Delhi 110042 Jan -May 2015 vii 2015 One THE STUDY OF MR. NARENDRA MODI’S GENERAL ELECTION (2014) STRATEGY: POST NOMINATION TO PRIME MINISTERIAL JOURNEY ANALYSIS DISHANT GOSAIN ii 2K13/MBA/25 CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the dissertation titled “THE STUDY OF MR. NARENDRA MODI’S GENERAL ELECTION (2014) STRATEGY: POST NOMINATION TO PRIME MINISTERIAL JOURNEY ANALYSIS”, is a bonafide work carried out by Dishant Gosain, student of MBA 2013-15 and submitted to Delhi School of Management, Delhi Technological University, Bawana Road, Delhi-42 in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the Degree of Masters of Business Administration. Signature of Guide Signature of Head (DSM) Seal of Head Place: New Delhi Date: 01/05/2015 iii DECLARATION I, Dishant Gosain, student of MBA 2013-15 of Delhi School of Management, Delhi Technological University, Bawana Road, Delhi-42 declare that the dissertation on “THE STUDY OF MR. NARENDRA MODI’S GENERAL ELECTION (2014) STRATEGY: POST NOMINATION TO PRIME MINISTERIAL JOURNEY ANALYSIS” submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the Degree of Masters of Business Administration is the original work conducted by me. The information and data given in the report is authentic to the best of my knowledge. The report is not being submitted to any other University for award of any other Degree, Diploma and Fellowship. Place: Delhi Dishant Gosain Date: 01/05/2015 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The opportunity provided by my college, Delhi School of Management, was a great chance for learning and knowledge enhancement. Therefore, I consider myself as a very lucky individual that I was provided with an opportunity to be able to conduct such a research. I am using this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude and special thanks to Mr. Vikas Gupta, who in spite of being extraordinarily busy with his duties, took time out to hear, guide and keep me on the correct path and allowing me to carry out my project under his guidance. I express my deepest thanks to Mrs. Karishma Gulati, for taking part in useful decisions & giving necessary advices and guidance throughout the research to make things easier. I choose this moment to acknowledge her contribution gratefully. It is my radiant sentiment to place on record my best regards, deepest sense of gratitude to Dr. P. K. Suri, for his careful and precious guidance throughout the academic curriculum which was extremely valuable for all my academic as well as non- academic endeavours. I also take the privilege to acknowledge the valuable contributions other faculty members of DSM have made which has directly or indirectly helped me in completion of the research. I perceive as this opportunity as a big milestone in my career development. I will strive to use gained skills and knowledge in the best possible way, and I will continue to work on their improvement, in order to attain desired career objectives. Sincerely, Dishant Gosain Place: New Delhi Date: 01/05/2015 v EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The dissertation aims at assessing the Narendra Modi’s Election Campaign from the time he was nominated as a Prime Minister Candidate and till he became the Prime Minister. It was although a new style of campaigning, which included a massive use of technology in order to reach the masses and spread the word. His campaign is one of the most viral campaign ever in the Indian History and competed with the one, that of Barack Obama. The main objectives of this dissertation are:- 1. To examine the campaign’s design strategies a. To review the vision and mission of the party b. To understand the campaign planning, agenda setting done by BJP to study the leadership philosophy of BJP’s election campaign. 2. To evaluate the rallies, campaigns and mass meeting organized by the party a. To determine the role of dedicated child, sister organisations in campaigning. b. To analyse the communication strategy and the message delivery mechanism of BJP during general elections. 3. To investigate the media management strategy used by Mr. Modi and his team. 4. To critically evaluate various development and nurturing support systems of BJP. 5. To examine the fund raising structure and controversies associated with the party 6. To study the use of innovations and modern technology and internet in propagating the brand Modi The data for this dissertation was collected using extensive primary and secondary research. The primary research included interviewing various people associated with the party as well as the voters. The secondary research was based on data collected from newspapers, websites and other related public documents available on the internet. vi CONTENTS CERTIFICATE III DECLARATION IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENT V EXECUTIVE SUMMARY VI CONTENTS VII CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE DISSERTATION 1 1.2 AIMS OF THE DISSERTATION 2 1.2.1 OBJECTIVES OF THE DISSERTATION 2 1.3 PURPOSE OF THE DISSERTATION 2 1.4 STRUCTURE OF THE DISSERTATION 3 CHAPTER 02: BACKGROUND TO THE RESEARCH CONTEXT 5 2.1 INTRODUCTION 5 2.2 BACKGROUND OF INDIAN GENERAL ELECTIONS 5 2.2.1 PROCESS OF GENERAL ELECTIONS 5 2.3 GENERAL FRAMEWORK OF ELECTIONS 8 2.3.1 CAMPAIGN MESSAGE 8 2.3.2 CAMPAIGN FINANCE 9 2.3.3 ORGANIZATION 9 2.3.4 CAMPAIGN MANAGER 9 2.3.5 POLITICAL CONSULTANTS/RESEARCH TEAMS 9 2.3.6 ACTIVISTS 9 2.3.7 CAMPAIGN ETHICS 9 2.3.8 CAMPAIGN COMMUNICATION 10 2.3.9 CAMPAIGN ADVERTISING 10 2.3.10 MEDIA MANAGEMENT 10 2.3.11 MASS MEETINGS, RALLIES AND PROTESTS 10 2.3.12 MODERN TECHNOLOGY AND THE INTERNET 10 2.4 MR. MODI’S JOURNEY 11 2.4.1 EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION 11 2.4.2 EARLY POLITICAL CAREER 12 2.4.3 CHIEF MINISTER OF GUJARAT 13 2.4.4 PRIME MINISTERIAL CANDIDATE 13 vii CHAPTER 03: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 15 3.1 INTRODUCTION 15 3.2 RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY 15 3.3 RESEARCH METHODS: QUANTITATIVE VS. QUALITATIVE 16 CHAPTER 04: ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 18 4.1 INTRODUCTION 18 4.2 CAMPAIGN’S DESIGN STRATEGY 18 4.2.1 MR. MODI’S CAMPAIGN’S VISION AND MISSION 18 4.2.2 CAMPAIGN PLANNING 22 4.2.3 AGENDA SETTING 23 4.2.4 LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY OF MODI CAMPAIGN 25 4.3 RALLIES, CAMPAIGNS AND MASS MEETING ORGANIZED BY THE PARTY 26 4.3.1 VARIOUS BJP SUPPORTING ORGANISATIONS 26 4.3.2 RALLIES IN DIFFERENT STATES 49 4.3.3 OTHER EVENTS CONDUCTED BY THE PARTY & SUPPORTERS 60 4.3.4 CUSTOMISED MANIFESTO 63 4.3.5 THE AUDIENCE 69 4.3.6 MOTIVATION BEHIND MODI’S TASKFORCE & SUPPORTING ORGANISATIONS 69 4.4 COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA MANAGEMENT 71 4.4.1 SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNICATION 72 4.4.2 ADVERTISING STRATEGY 72 4.4.3 SPEECH DELIVERY STRATEGY: WELL TIMED SPEECHES 75 4.4.4 CUSTOMIZED DELIVERY OF MESSAGE AS PER THE AUDIENCE 81 4.4.5 WELL MANAGED INTERVIEWS 86 4.5 DEVELOPING AND NURTURING SUPPORT SYSTEMS: DEDICATED RESEARCH TEAMS & EFFICIENT COORDINATION 90 4.5.1 KEY INDIVIDUALS AND THEIR WORKING 91 4.5.2 KEY TEAMS AND THEIR WORKING 93 4.6 FINANCIAL BACKING BY CORPORATE AS WELL AS PUBLIC 97 4.6.1 MODI FOR PM FUND 97 4.6.2 AJEEVAN SAHYOG NIDHI 99 4.6.3 CONTROVERSIES RELATED TO FUNDING 99 4.7 EFFICIENT USE OF IT AND MODERN TECHNOLOGIES 101 4.7.1 USE OF MOBILE TECHNOLOGY 102 4.7.2 GPS FITTED VANS 102 4.7.3 3D HOLOGRAPHIC PROJECTION 102 4.7.4 EXTENSIVE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA – TWITTER, FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE 104 4.7.5 SMS CAMPAIGNS & MISSED CALLS SEEKING VOTER ID CARD NUMBER 113 4.7.6 VIDEO CALLS – FIRST POLITICIAN TO USE GOOGLE HANGOUT [50] 114 4.7.7 LIVE AUDIO-VIDEO BROADCASTING OF SPEECHES 114 CHAPTER 05: RESULT ANALYSIS 116 CHAPTER 06: CONCLUSION 132 viii 6.1 INTRODUCTION 132 6.2 WINNING FACTORS FOR MR. MODI 132 6.2.1 A PERFECTLY ALIGNED FORCE FROM TEETH TO TAIL 132 6.2.2 DECLARE AMBITIONS AND GOALS CLEARLY 132 6.2.3 SET STRETCH TARGETS AND ALIGN ENTIRE TEAM TO THE FINAL GOAL 133 6.2.4 BREAK THE FINAL TARGET PERSONAL TARGETS INTO A SET OF SMALLER TARGETS AND MILESTONES. 133 6.2.5 DEMONSTRATE STRENGTH, THEN INVITE STAKEHOLDERS: 133 6.2.6 PLAN METICULOUSLY AND IN DETAIL. 133 6.2.7 SET THE AGENDA AND KEEP CONTROL. 134 6.2.8 ATTACK THE ENEMY WHERE HE IS WEAK. 134 6.2.9 NEVER PLAY TO YOUR WEAKNESS. 134 6.3 COMPARISON BETWEEN MR. MODI’S AND BARACK OBAMA’S CAMPAIGN 135 6.3.1 2012 US ELECTION 135 6.3.2 THE STRIKING SIMILARITIES B/W BARACK OBAMA AND NARENDRA MODI'S POLITICAL RISE 135 6.4 FINAL RESULT 137 6.5 LIMITATIONS 137 6.6 FUTURE SCOPE 137 REFERENCES 138 ADHERENCE SHEET 142 ix CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Dissertation A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, wherein representatives are chosen or referendums are decided. In modern politics, the most high profile political campaigns are focused on candidates for head of state or head of government, often a president or prime minister. The campaign is the period when the political parties put forward their candidates and arguments with which they hope to persuade people to vote for their candidates and parties.