Ahmedabad, 24 January 2014

What we saw today morning in newspapers was perhaps the first Congress party advertisement solely projecting Rahul Gandhi ahead of the general elections of Lok Sabha this year. The advertisement doesn’t feature party president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. The advertisement is published in all leading newspapers across India in various languages.

The slogan used in this ad is “Main Nahi Hum”. At first glance it seems the slogan targets Narendra Modi(main-individual), and attempts to convince that Rahul Gandhi is for hum(people).

Now the fact is that “Main Nahi Hum” slogan was coined and used by Narendra Modi himself originally as early as in February 2011. This slogan was coined by Modi as central theme of governance in Gujarat.

For a Chintan Shibir held at Mehsana water park in the first week of February in year 2011, Modi had choosen “Main Nahi Hum” as focal point of discussion. A big banner on the stage featuring the slogan “Main Nahi Hum” was put up, along with the other charts and banners featuring the idea of team work.

The shibir was attended by Chief Minister, all ministers and bureaucrats. It was addressed by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar among others, photographs of which are presented here.

When Rahul is spending crores of rupees for his campaign, his team is expected to bring something original.