BJP's 10 commandments on media strategy for 2014 elections

New Delhi: Narendra Modi, Gujarat Chief Minister and the BJP's election campaign chief, held a closed-door media workshop for the party's spokespersons on Saturday. He was assisted by senior leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, who head the party's committee on media, to hand out dos and don'ts to the central spokespersons and their counterparts in state units.

The move came after the ruling Congress targeted Mr Modi for borrowing Barack Obama's "Yes we can" slogan during his speech at a recent rally in Hyderabad. Mr Modi told the spokespersons and media conveners that their defence of that accusation was not perfect, claiming not many knew that it was he, and not Mr Obama, who had raised the slogan, "I can, we can" during the 2004 campaign.

Mr Modi clarified that he didn't mean Mr Obama instead borrowed from him, but cited it as one example to highlight how they should be better prepared for such debates.

Here are the BJP's new mantras on media strategy:

• Spokespersons must be better prepared, with an emphasis on better research, to sound more convincing. There must be more literate and researched responses from media teams.
• Only those who have expertise in a certain subject must speak on that issue. Every one need not speak on everything, Mr Modi indicated.
• Need to take on the ruling Congress more aggressively.
• Target the Congress on issues like corruption, state of the economy and malgovernance.
• Force it to answer tough questions on its nine years of rule at the Centre.
• But do it with decency and decorum. Ms Swaraj said party leaders should exercise caution while hitting out at the Congress as "words once spoken cannot be taken back".
• On TV discussions, Ms Swaraj said, panelists must speak in one voice, decorously, while firmly rubbishing arguments of political adversaries
• Mr Jaitley said he was dissatisfed at the manner in which BJP spokespersons had tackled the Congress' charges against Mr Modi after his Independence Day speech. He said Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had used derogatory words against Mr Modi which should have been countered strongly, but decently.
• The BJP must set the agenda in media and public debates and not follow the one set by the Congress.
• There must be better coordination between central and state units.