india

Updated: Jan 28, 2019 09:33 IST

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has asked its state units to organise live screenings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s interaction with students, Pareeksha Pe Charcha, in every assembly constituency of the country through LED screens and other means, a senior party leader said.

Each of these shows in the assembly constituencies should have at least 500 people in attendance, the party has told its leaders. All office-bearers and elected representatives of the party have been asked to attend the event and ensure wide publicity to it on social media at the district and state level. The aim is to amplify the message of the PM in an election year.

The human resource development ministry was also making arrangements to have the interaction screened for Indian students in Russia, Iran, Qatar, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait , according to officials aware of the development.

Launched last year, Pareeksha Pe Charcha is Modi’s interaction with students ahead of their annual examinations; teachers and parents, too, take part in the event. The PM will hold this dialogue at New Delhi’s Talkatora stadium on January 29. This year’s event is expected to follow the same format as last year’s, when Modi spoke with students at the venue and in other locations through video conferencing and discussed issues related to examinations and stress.

Unlike last year, though, only students who cleared a test will be interacting with the Prime Minister. Exam stress is a big issue in India where the Class 10 and Class 12 board examinations are not just competitive but also very important. Several helplines remain open during this time to help students cope with stress. Last year, Modi released a book he wrote on the subject, Exam Warriors, in early February, ahead of the Pareeksha Pe Charcha event.

“Elaborate arrangements have been made for its wide publicity. We want to engage with maximum number of persons through different programmes before the summer parliamentary elections,” the BJP leader quoted in the first instance said on condition of anonymity.

In a communication sent out to BJP’s state units and its elected representatives, the party’s national general secretary Arun Singh has suggested a nine-point action plan to make the event a success and get maximum publicity. “In big town and cities, cinema hall owners should be apprised of the utility of this programme and encouraged to show it on screen,” Singh wrote to BJP leaders.

“Arrangements to be made for downloading Narendra Modi app and to publicise NaMo merchandise,” he added.

However, the Congress has slammed the BJP’s move, calling it a “petty” move. “The PM would have done well to bring about some incremental advances in the Right to Education (RTE), enhancing education and working on generating jobs post education. Instead we have Shri Modi perpetually chasing people either through ‘Mann ki Baat’ or by writing letters, and now he’s desperate to reach schoolchildren for petty political benefits,” party spokesperson Pranav Jha said.