Modi hopes to brew success with 'chai pe charcha' from Feb 12

Using the 'tea-seller' jibe hurled at Narendra Modi by rivals to reach out to voters, BJP today announced the launch of a campaign that will allow people to engage with its prime ministerial candidate over a cup of tea.

The Gujarat Chief Minister will launch "Chai Pe Charcha with NaMo" (a discussion over tea with Modi) on February 12 by participating in the first such meet at Ahmedabad where he will interact with public and answer queries on good governance, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said today .

"When four people get together over a cup of tea they discuss politics and this discussion takes place without any tension. This is the basis of our campaign "Chai Pe Charcha", a purely Indian concept. We are trying to reach out to two crore people through this programme," Swaraj said.

She said the campaign will be held on a large scale with atleast 10 rounds and if time allows, up to 15 rounds. They will be conducted simultaneously at 1000 locations and at 300 cities across the country at the same time and date.

There will be a gap of five days between each such round and the party today announced the first 1,000 locations in 27 states identified by it for the campaign.

The unique election campaign strategy stems from the recent jibe of Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar who had said that Modi could not become Prime Minister but could certainly serve tea at the January 17 AICC Session.

Turning the jibe to its advantage, BJP poll strategists have decided to use Modi's "tea seller" past to reach out to as many voters as possible by inviting them to talk to the leader as part of the new project.

Swaraj said the BJP always finds new mediums to interact with people and this time it will make use of the latest technology to reach out to the people.

"Five mediums will be used for the campaign - DTH, satellite, internet, mobile phones and social media," she said, adding that the campaign entails "share, ask and suggest".