Centre's Mega Ad Blitz To Hit Airwaves Days After BJP's Delhi Drubbing

A mega outreach programme about government initiatives involving public welfare will be stepped up, the Central government has decided, sources told NDTV. The decision came a day after the BJP's huge defeat in the Delhi Assembly election. The party won just 8 seats, marginally better than the three it won in 2015.

Mr Kejriwal, who won 62 of the assembly's 70 seats, has said Delhi has rewarded his government's work over the last five years. The BJP, which has not ruled Delhi for more than 20 years, had said it would "introspect" on the results.

Today, sources said Union minister Prakash Javadekar has written to all ministries to expedite the "Har Kaam, Desh Ke Naam" campaign.

The countrywide outreach would be carried out through advertisements through television, newspapers and digital media for 45 days till March 31.

Under the campaign, information would be given to people about the steps the government has taken to improve people's lives. Mr Javadekar has asked senior officials of every ministry to provide details about their initiatives.

The BJP had contested the Delhi election pegging its campaign on the anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) protests. The Aam Aadmi Party had built its narrative around the work it did over the last five years.  

In his address after the results, Arvind Kejriwal had said mandate signalled the success of a "new kind of politics" that focuses on "work". "People of Delhi have given a message that they will vote for schools, mohalla clinics, 24-hour electricity and free water. This is a great message for the country," he said.

The BJP's focus on national issues had not paid off either in states like Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh or Jharkhand either, all of which it has lost. After the elections, a section of the party had maintained the opinion that it would have been better to speak of locals issues and focus on the message of development.