With Modi-for-PM slogan, BJP begins 2014 poll campaign

Upbeat after recently assembly poll results, party aims to reach out to around 100 million voters in coming months

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday formally began its campaign for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections with Modi-for-PM as slogan.

Upbeat after the recent Assembly election results, the party said it would reach out to around 100 million voters in the coming months and ask them to both vote and contribute “notes” (cash) for their campaign.

“BJP’s Modi for PM campaign will be on the lines of the JP movement that was launched in the Emergency era to throw out the Congress government,” BJP General-Secretary Ananth Kumar said.

The decision was taken after a meeting with the chief ministers of the five BJP-ruled states and the BJP Parliamentary Board.

The Parliamentary Board consists of senior BJP leaders, including Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who also attended the meeting.

Explaining the campaign of “one vote, one note”, Kumar said, “The minimum amount to be contributed will be Rs 10 while the maximum limit is Rs 1,000.”  The party’s aim was to get more than 272 seats in the general elections, he added.

The party would hold meetings in 400 Lok Sabha constituencies before selecting candidates. A national meet of party booth-level workers would be held on February 28 to discuss micro-management during polling.