User:Magentic Manifestations/sandbox/Campaigning

Party campaigns

National Democratic Alliance

Bharatiya Janata Party

Main article: Bharatiya Janata Party campaign for the 2024 Indian general election

The national executive meeting of the BJP held on 16 and 17 January 2023 saw the party reaffirm its faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and extend the tenure of BJP national president J. P. Nadda. Charting out the BJP's strategy for the upcoming polls, Modi said in a speech to party workers that they should reach out to every section of society, including the marginalised and minority communities, without electoral considerations.

Following the 2023 Legislative Assembly elections, Modi debuted the slogan "Modi Ki Guarantee" for the 2024 polls. The slogan Abki Baar 400 Paar (This Time Surpassing 400), was coined by the BJP referring to the party's goal of winning more than 400 out of 543 seats in the elections. Used along with the slogan Theesri bar Modi Sarkar' (Modi Government for the third time), similar to ones used by the BJP in previous elections, including the 2019 general election, election analysts said that the path for the BJP to achieve the goal of winning 400 seats would be to win more seats in the south of India than in previous elections.

The party held political rallies in multiple states with national leadership including Modi, BJP President J. P. Nadda and then Home minister Amit Shah campaigning actively. During a campaign rally, then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath described the election as a contest between "devotees of Ram" and "anti-Ram forces" and urged voters to select the former. Modi also accused the opposition of plotting to raze the Ram Mandir temple once they were in power.

On 14 April 2024, the BJP invited foreign diplomats posted in the country as well as 25 overseas political parties including the Conservative and the Labour parties of the United Kingdom, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) of Germany and the Awami League of Bangladesh to observe the party's electoral campaign. This initiative is part of the "Know BJP" campaign, aimed at external outreach and familiarisation with the election process. As part of this program, BJP president Nadda met with envoys from 13 countries. On 3 June, Time magazine noted that throughout the elections, associates and supporters of the BJP circulated fake news in order to discredit its opponents and spread hatred against religious minorities.

Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance

The bloc's first joint rally was held in Patna, Bihar on 3 March 2024. The rally saw, among others, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, party leader Rahul Gandhi, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, and senior Left leaders Sitaram Yechury and D. Raja. Kharge attacked Nitish Kumar of the Janata Dal (United), who had switched allgeiance from the opposition to the ruling NDA alliance before the elections for frequently changing alliances and criticised the BJP for not fulfilling its promise of jobs and neglecting the country's poor and the majority.

Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra logo

The alliance jointly held a rally at Shivaji Park in Mumbai on 17 March, a day after the end of Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. The rally was attended by Gandhi, SS(UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray, NCP(SP) leader Sharad Pawar, Tejashwi Yadav, and DMK leader and then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. K. Stalin, among others. At the rally, Gandhi said that he was compelled to launch the Bharat Jodo Yatra due to rising inflation and unemployment in the nation.

Indian National Congress

Main article: Indian National Congress campaign for the 2024 Indian general election

Attendees display banners at the Bharat Jyodo Nyay yatra

The Congress campaign was launched from Nagpur at a rally on 28 December 2023. The rally also marked the 138th Congress Foundation Day and was held to energise party cadres for the elections with party workers from all over the state called to join the rally. On 14 January, the party launched its Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, a sequel to the Bharat Jodo Yatra held the previous year. The yatra started in Thoubal, Manipur and ended in Mumbai on 16 March 2024, covering 6,713 km (4,171 mi) across 14 states.

Crowdfunding

The Congress started a crowdfunding campaign known as Donate for Desh (Donate for the Country) ahead of the elections and claimed to be inspired from Mahatma Gandhi's Tilak Swaraj Fund (1920–21). It formally launched the campaign's digital version on 18 December 2023 with a dedicated website. The physical version of the campaign, which be done via door-to-door collection drives, was launched on 28 December. The campaign received ₹1.45 crore (US$170,000) on its first day, with the top five states in amount of donations being Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Karnataka. By the end of 2023, the campaign received around ₹9 crore (US$1.1 million), with 30% of the funds being collected from Telangana and Maharashtra alone. The campaign had collected about ₹20 crore (US$2.4 million) according to the party when on 28 January, it rebranded its crowdfunding campaign to Donate for Nyay (Donate for Justice), in line with Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and collected a further ₹4 crore (US$480,000) in four days.

Funding issues

On 16 February 2024, the Congress alleged that the Income Tax Department (IT) ordered the freezing of bank accounts belonging to the party containing ₹210 crore (US$25 million) as part of an ongoing legal dispute. The party's treasurer Ajay Maken later added that tax authorities imposed a ₹210 crore (US$25 million) lien on 13 February, sealed its bank accounts and confiscated ₹111 crore (US$13 million). The party's leader Rahul Gandhi complained that the restrictions had rendered the party unable to campaign properly, adding that the party's entire finance has been curtailed and accused Modi and Shah as responsible for the action against the party, which was denied by the BJP. Congress leader Sonia Gandhi also alleged that the tax issues were initiated as a part of planned efforts to cripple the party.

According to the IT Department, it had recovered ₹135 crore (US$16 million) from the Congress for breaking the legislation exempting political parties from paying taxes, rather than freezing the party's bank accounts as the opposition party had claimed. The party received notices from the department again on 29 March asking it to pay ₹1,823.08 crore (US$220 million), which was pending to be paid as taxes. The Congress again accused the BJP led government of engaging in "tax terrorism" and alleged that it is in violation of the income-tax laws, countering that the IT department should raise a demand of ₹4,617.58 crore (US$550 million) from the BJP.

Others

The CPI (M) began their election campaign in Kerala after announcing 15 candidates in the state. The RJD began its campaign with its Jan Vishwas Yatra ("People's Trust Yatra") on 20 February 2024. Tejashwi Yadav launched the yatra from Muzaffarpur in Bihar and the yatra lasted until 1 March 2024 and covered 33 districts. In Siwan on 23 February, Yadav termed the BJP "a dustbin" which takes in other parties that have become "garbage". After an intra-party dispute that led to the splitting of the Shiv Sena based in Maharashtra, the Supreme Court of India barred the Shiv Sena (UBT) faction which joined the INDI alliance from using the party's bow-and-arrow symbol as its electoral symbol in balloting and awarded it instead to the Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena which joined the NDA. This led the UBT faction to adopt a torch as its electoral symbol.