By Arijit Barman

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appears all set to launch the next leg of its election campaign. 

The chief ministers of the seven BJP-ruled states met today in the Capital to finalise their strategy for the Lok Sabha elections. 

From the Rs 50-crore 'Shining India' campaign, the party now plans to go ahead with its new catch phrase - 'India on the move'.

Practically every single government department - from the publicity shy Planning Commission to the ministries of health, rural development and even home are hardselling the Vajpayee government's achievements in the Rs 250 crore campaign. 

Sudheendra Kulkarni of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) will supervise the initiative.

Corporate campaign

The Planning Commission has already kicked off the first of its series of print media campaigns. Next in line - half a dozen TV spots for which top firms like Rediffusion and O&M have been shortlisted. 

The Health ministry will splurge about Rs 25 crore on TV spots in Doordarshan while booklets on the government's milestones are also in the pipeline. 

They will be published in English, Hindi and major regional languages by the Press Information Bureau and the DAVP.

"The government needs to showcase its achievements to the people," said CP Thakur, Minister for Small Scale Industries.

Battlelines drawn

The Opposition of course calls it a colossal waste of tax payers' money to spread misinformation. 

"All these claims are bogus, all a figment of KC Pant's imagination," said Jairam Ramesh, Congress Economic Cell.

"With Shining India you are trying to sell a perception that Vajpayee is the next best thing to a spring loaf," said Suhel Seth, CEO of Equus Red Cell.

Even though the government wants to convince the voters that India is actually moving ahead through its ad blitzkrieg, the content and the timing of the campaign will be closely watched by the Election Commission and the Opposition parties. 

Already, the Shining India campaign courted controversy before the last state polls and this time around the matter is likely to snowball into a major political battle.

Source: NDTV.com