By Anindya Banerjee
New Delhi, Jul 24 (IANS): If you thought this August 5 is just the day when the Ram Mandir 'bhoomi poojan' will take place, you are wrong. It also happens to be the first anniversary of the BJP government abrogating Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu & Kashmir.
The BJP now has decided to kick off nationwide celebrations through virtual rallies, connect with intellectuals, video conferences with media and social media campaigns and national leaders thronging Jammu, Ladakh and Srinagar on August 5.
BJP will project it as "One India" campaign that they will call "Ek Bharat, ekatma Bharat". BJP President J.P. Nadda himself has asked how to devise the campaign.
The BJP will reignite the virtual rallies spree in run up to August 5. Between July 28 and August 3, all states will hold one virtual rally in their regional languages, which will be addressed by state leaders. Meanwhile, one national leader each will be present in Jammu, Srinagar and Ladakh on August 5 where they will take part in an event which will be replicated in the two Union territories down to the mandal level.
In all the bigger states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, there will be 5 video conferences each and in relatively medium to smaller sized states, there will be 2 video conferences each. Through them, efforts will be made to connect with intellectuals, social workers and eminent personalities there.
BJP leadership in the states have been asked to connect with at least 50 social workers in every district of India and articulate the initiatives and government projects sanctioned for the twin UTs -- Ladakh and J&K. Booklets for that purpose are also being published which will be handed over to them.
What is a campaign without an aggressive media outreach? So, the BJP has devised a plan through which BJP's central office will hold a video conference with their state media departments and media panelists where the same pointers of what the Centre has done for the twin UTs in the last 1 year will be highlighted.
In every state and Union territory capital, there will be a press conference which the BJP will organise on August 3, said party leader Arun Singh. Leaflets will also be published and articles written to amplify the BJP's campaign.
At a time of COVID-19, the BJP has added special thrust to social media where the saffron party will hold a week-long campaign from July 28 to August 3. A hashtag is also being created named "Ek Bharat, ekatma Bharat", which will be made to trend on social media during the tenure of the week.
Every BJP state social media cell is asked to shoot small informative videos and crisp interviews of "aam aadmi" on the issue which will then be posted from their official state BJP handles on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and even Instagram.
The BJP has also planned to connect it to the Triple Talaq Act, which too was passed in August last year. This August 1, it will also be the one-year anniversary for that Act which criminalises instant triple talaq. The women's wing of the BJP has been tasked to reach out and connect with "Muslim sisters" through virtual meetings and at least 100 Muslim women intellectuals will be reached out to in every state to articulate the significance of the move, ordered the BJP president.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be projected as a "unifier" during these aggressive campaigns who not only mainstreamed J&K and Ladakh but also "liberated" scores of Muslim women.
The BJP has asked its state units to assign responsibilities and revert on the work done at 6, Deen Dayal Upadhayay Marg, the party's national headquarters in Delhi.