Men behind Narendra Modi’s election campaign strategy

The blueprint of Modi’s marketing and communication strategy has been drawn by Citizens for Accountable Governance.

Political strategists

Instead of relying on party machinery or deliberating with senior party leaders, Modi works closely with a handful of people borrowed from the RSS and three of his trusted ministers from Gujarat.

Backroom boys

Administration and coordination with different Modi teams is carried out by three of his secretaries operating out of Gandhinagar — chief principal secretary K Kailashnathan, additional principal secretary A K Sharma and principal secretary G C Murmu — and resident commissioner in Delhi Bharat Lal.

Campaign strategist

The blueprint of Modi’s marketing and communication strategy has been drawn by Citizens for Accountable Governance. CAG is the brainchild of Prashant Kishore, a former UN mission chief in Africa, a public health exponent and a statistics whiz, who has been working with Modi for the past three years. CAG employs 200 full-time and more than 1,000 part-time volunteers.

Communication managers

Modi’s digital strategy, including his social media campaign, is managed by his former OSD Hiren Joshi, a former RSS man. The mainstream campaign — TV, print and radio ads — is managed by Manoj Ladwa, a London-based mergers-and-acquisitions lawyer , said to have played a crucial role in getting the UK to open its doors to Modi. While the media planning is handled by marketing communications agency Madison and advertising veterans such as Piyush Pande and Prasoon Joshi are providing creative inputs for the campaign, Ladwa supervises the whole process from an office in Lodhi Road, New Delhi.

Men behind Narendra Modi’s election campaign strategy