AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal at a party event in New Delhi. (Photo: Press Trust of India)
With elections due soon in Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal is back on radio. This time he is featuring not just in ad spots or calls for donations, but will also interact with the public in a live chat from next week.
The Aam Aadmi Party chief's version of "Mann ki Baat" (talk from the heart) - made popular by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who makes public addresses on All India Radio every now and then on a Sunday - begins on December 3, next Wednesday.
Mr Kejriwal's radio segment will play on private FM channels.
AAP had made effective use of radio in its campaign when it debuted in the Delhi elections last year, airing messages from Mr Kejriwal. Since then, the BJP has discovered radio too.
Fresh elections in Delhi are yet to be announced, but the airwaves have already turned into a political battlefield. Mr Kejriwal's recorded messages have been playing again on city FM channels, countered this time by the BJP's campaign. The ruling party has not only been airing messages from its Delhi unit leaders, but also its star campaigner, PM Modi, exhorting people to join his 'Swachch Bharat' campaign or talking about his government's other achievements.
The BJP has declared that its Delhi campaign will not announce a presumptive Chief Minister. Instead, the PM will ask the city to support him. The strategy was a success in recent state elections in Maharashtra and Haryana.
Mr Kejriwal, who governed Delhi for 49 days earlier this year and is now making a pitch for a second chance, told NDTV recently in an interview that the BJP is constructing "an artificial battle" to make the Delhi election seem like a face-off between him and Prime Minister Modi.
"They are trying to do fraud on the people of Delhi....Modi will not run the city, it will be handed over to somebody else," he said.
In his "Mann ki Baat" series, the PM picks an issue and invites feedback before making his address of about 15-18 minutes. He has made two such addresses and has said that he plans to use them to mobilise support among ordinary people for his agenda of change.