New Delhi: ‘Modi ki guarantee’ is back on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) posters and advertisements for the Delhi elections, after it went missing from party posters and leaders’ speeches post the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, in which the BJP’s tally was far short of its ‘400-paar’ target.
The return of the slogan is said to reflect the BJP’s confidence in its efforts to win the Delhi polls, wherein the party is pitting ‘Brand Modi’ against ‘Brand Kejriwal’.
Posters put up across the national capital feature photos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with slogans like ‘Yamuna ki safai, aur riverfront ka nirman, viksit Delhi Modi ki guarantee’ and ‘500 rupaye mai gareebo ko gas cylinder.’
Not only this, the focus of the party’s campaign in Delhi is centred around the guarantees of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the party’s social media being flooded with posts on the same.
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युवाओं के उज्ज्वल भविष्य के लिए मोदी की गारंटी #दिल्ली_के_लिए_मोदी_की_गारंटी pic.twitter.com/msgSjEbfsT
— BJP Delhi (@BJP4Delhi) February 3, 2025
Monday’s newspaper advertisements about the Union Budget announcement of zero income tax up to Rs 12 lakh, benefiting one crore middle-class people, spoke of ‘Modi government’s gift for Delhi’ and ‘Viksit Delhi Modi ki guarantee.’
Also Read: Why Congress is so hesitant about showcasing 3-time Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit in its poll campaign
Why ‘Modi ki guarantee’ was missing in other polls’ posters
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the main tagline of the BJP’s campaign as well as manifesto was ‘Modi ki guarantee’ and ‘phir ek baar Modi sarkaar.’ Right from the speeches of PM Modi to other senior BJP leaders, the focus was on good governance and delivery with a ‘stamp’ of PM Modi.
In the Haryana and Maharashtra assembly elections, ‘Modi ki guarantee’ was missing as a central theme of the party’s campaign.
However, in Jharkhand, the focus was on PM Modi as the party did not name a chief ministerial candidate. Although the PM did speak about ‘Modi ki guarantee’ during his speeches ahead of the Jharkhand elections, the posters did not carry the slogan. However, a party leader told ThePrint that since the BJP was not in power in Jharkhand, the campaigning highlighted the work done by the Modi government.
Modi featured prominently across posters for the Jharkhand polls, including those on social media. The BJP’s lotus symbol and the tagline, ‘Roti, beti, maati ki pukaar, Jharkhand mai Bhajapa sarkar’ were the party’s core message.
Meanwhile, Union Minister of Women and Child Development of India Annapurna Devi has also termed the BJP’s manifesto for the Delhi assembly polls as ‘Modi ki guarantee’.
Addressing a rally in Delhi Sunday, the PM, while criticising the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), said the party’s ‘AAP-da’ has destroyed 11 years of the national capital, and a double-engine government dedicated to its development and growth will now be elected.
Modi said his government at the Centre “has stood for strengthening the four pillars of ‘poor, farmers, youth and women’, and the Union Budget is the guarantee of fulfilling Modi’s guarantees.”
After the Lok Sabha setback, the BJP played down Brand Modi in the Haryana poll campaign, organising only a few rallies. Similarly, in Maharashtra, while the phrase ‘Modi ki guarantee’ did feature in election rallies, the entire campaign was focused on the ‘Ladki Bahin’ scheme and the work done by the Maharashtra government.
The decision to project Modi as the face of the party in Delhi is “reflective of the BJP’s growing confidence in the results”, according to BJP leaders.
A senior BJP leader, who wished not to be named, told ThePrint that one of the reasons behind why ‘Modi ki guarantee’ was not the central theme in the Haryana and Maharashtra elections was that they were being held in an alliance in Maharashtra and, in Haryana, the party had a sitting chief minister.
“After the Lok Sabha elections, the party did not put too much emphasis on the guarantee, though it was used during rallies. However, in Delhi, we don’t have a face, and the work that has been done at the Centre for Delhi is something we need to highlight,” the BJP leader said.
Speaking to ThePrint, Delhi BJP in-charge and BJP national vice-president Baijayant Panda stressed the PM’s guarantees.
“The women of Punjab are protesting almost daily. They (AAP) have promised it (similar aid) in Delhi. They haven’t done it (neither in Delhi nor in Punjab). So, the key difference between the BJP and the AAP is when we make a promise, it has Modiji’s guarantee. People know that it will be implemented. There is no fakery involved. Ours is fiscally responsible and, most importantly, you can’t find corruption in BJP-implemented welfare programmes,” Panda told ThePrint in an interview.
Asked about the reasoning behind it, BJP national spokesperson Prem Shukla said that in both Haryana and Maharashtra, the party had a sitting government and, in Haryana, a CM from the BJP itself. Hence, the campaign focused on both the guarantees as well as the performance of the state government.
“In Delhi, we are contesting the elections under collective leadership, and we don’t have a government. So the focus is largely on Modi’s guarantees, which means that unlike the AAP, we deliver what we promise,” Shukla told ThePrint.
“In Haryana, we had a sitting CM, so naturally, our campaign talked about the achievements of the state government, and in Maharashtra too, our outdoor campaign did mention Modi ki guarantee,” he added.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
Also Read: Up against Kejriwal, Congress’s Sandeep Dikshit hits streets to remind voters of ‘Sheila ji wali Delhi’
