Acquisition or Wapsi - The battle of perception

Numerous bills are tabled, which are either passed and become law or are else jettisoned till they are repackaged and brought back after decades. What makes the Land Acquisition Act so special? Well, it is flagging off yet another movement in the country due to the gravity of impact it will create along with a fierce ego battle between two formidable for and against national parties. It is a battle of perceptions, a battle of proving who cares more for the welfare of the poor, a battle to change the national discourse forever. Hence, the country can embrace itself for series of well crafted communications to swing it either way. 

Land acquisition vests the power in the hands of the central or state government to acquire land for infrastructure development and carrying economic growth initiatives. What makes this a subject of controversy is the fact that, whether or not the original owners of the land are adequately compensated. Currently this law is governed by The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. This law came to effect from 1st January 2014. The Modi government passed an ordinance with an idea to ensure the developmental needs of the country along with the welfare of the farmers. According to the ordinance the consent clause is not required for acquisitions for industrial corridors, PPP projects, rural infrastructure, affordable housing and defense. The amendment bill was passed in Lok Sabha on 10th March 2015. Since, the government in power does not have a large mandate in Rajya Sabha, it has become an insurmountable hindrance first to convince allies, second to get support from the opposition and thirdly to win over minds of people who feel that the new bill is crony capitalist. 

What is Congress parties reasoning to the changed amendments being a step backward?

• No consent required-  Earlier the law had provisioning for 80 percent consent of people affected. Now to cut the long story short, ' Your land is being acquired and you cannot say No'

• Social Impact Assessment not required- Earlier a social audit was required after 6 months and opinion of Graham Sabha before the acquisition. This is to be completely done away with now. Also, fertile irrigated multi-cropped land can now be acquired easily 

• Unused land to be returned- Land which was not used even after 5 years of acquisition was to be returned to the original owner. The clause of timeline is completely eliminated

• Industrial Corridors- Builders and real estate firms can now be given land along 1 km of both sides of the corridor

• 'Private Company' replaced with 'Private Entity'- This means that the land can be acquired for any sole proprietorship, partnership, not for profit organization, company, corporation or any other entity

• Offense Prosecution Sanction- If any offense is carried out by any government official then he/she cannot be prosecuted unless the government sanction is in place prior to prosecution 

This is how BJP is justifying- 

• "Nation of incomplete projects"- This is how Mr Jaitely likes to put the consequences of law brought in by the UPA government

• Exempted Laws into the purview-v As many as 13 acts which were not under this act have been included to ensure an even higher compensation and better rehabilitation and resettlement 

• Longer gestation periods- Creation of infrastructure projects takes time and does have longer gestation periods, so the land cannot be returned

• Social Impact assessment is rigorous- The process in itself it very tedious and covering the impact on all affected parties is too broad

• Benefits to Rural India-  The ordinance will benefit the rural India ultimately with better social infrastructure, employment opportunities and appreciated value of land

• Compensation Package remains the same- Two times the market price for urban areas and four times for rural areas

• Boost Manufacturing & Investor Confidence- This will give a message to the investors that the procedural bottlenecks for investment are more investor friendly

Most importantly, it is being done to make the government's 'Make in India' ambition a reality

Clearly, there are points of view upheld by both sides which need to be articulately communicated to all stakeholders. Hence, the BJP is planning & executing a major public opinion building campaign. Similarly, the Congress to is stepping up to build reverse opinion and gain political mileage. 

Glimpse of what both the parties are doing....

BJP

• Mobilizing Party Workers- To flow down information top-down and strengthen internal communications BJP convened the National Executive Meet on 3rd April attended by top political brass of BJP. Similarly, BJP Parliamentary Party meeting was held today as on 19th April, before the budget session commences in order to counter the misinformation being spread by the Congress BJP Parliamentary Meet as on 19th April

• Media Relations- BJP is issuing press releases to the media and all the national party spokespersons are countering Congress's allegations  Press Release as on 19th April 2015

• Twitter & Facebook Activation- A series of Tweets are being posted by the BJP and Prime Minister Modi to bring out their point of view and attack the opposition, specially Rahul Gandhi. Similar efforts are being made on Facebook Page. 

• Educating Farmers- On ground activation to educate farmers

• Mega Rallies- BJP is planning nationwide mega rallies to address the issues concerning the amendments in the newly defined act

CONGRESS is going out!!

• Dedicated Website- Congress's www.zameenwapsi.com was launched in a press conference as on 18th April 2015. As soon as one enters the website, an extremely jazzy website opens up with 'Jai Ho' track playing the background to arouse the national sentiment. The website clearly mentions the Vision for the country, comparison of three laws, supporting arguments, questions for BJP, opportunity for NGO's, extensive media gallery and an option to become a part of the revolution by signing up/giving a missed call. The latter one is quite similar to the BJP's way of inviting for membership

• Mega Rally at Ram Leela Maidan- For show of strength or as some media stalwarts call it- The Relaunch of Rahul Gandhi, the mega rally was organized. Rahul Gandhi in a completely new avatar addressed the crowd and looked extremely fortifying against the anti-farmer bill. Manmohan Singh was also present to demonstrate support and addressed the crowd. Sonia Gandhi also reiterated Rahul Gandhi's key messages Rahul Gandhi address at Kissan Mazdoor Rally

• Dedicated Twitter and Facebook Pages- Congress is trying to make 'Zameen Wapsi' a national movement and using the aid of social media for the same, by having created dedicated social media pages for it. However, the major point of posting the content still remains the official Twitter and Facebook page of INC. Zameen Wapsi Twitter Page   Facebook Community 

Both the parties are leaving no stone unturned to change the political discourse in their favor. Just by analyzing the scale of operations being carried, it is clear that this is only set to grow from hereon. Time ahead will only tell who will win this perception battle and whether or not the controversial land bill is passed or not. Although, this is a good opportunity for political and communication fanatics to keep their eyes and ears wide open. Moreover, it'll be interesting to see the discourse being taken by other political parties. After all, they are one of the most important stakeholders to decide Acquisition or Wapsi! 

Ten ways to become the Prime Minister

Here are the ten different tactics that were used in 2014 General Elections for you to infer from- 

1. The way people perceive an individual becomes their Brand. This is resonated with Consistency and Communication. One of the fundamentals of building reputation is Communicating what has been done already and not talking about what will be done in the future. Hence, Vibrant Gujarat became the biggest testimony to base the entire campaign on. After all, NaMo intended to replicate what had already been done on a comparatively smaller scale.

2. 'Bhajapa' had lost its relevance among the youth. 'Hindutva' was gradually becoming defunct and lost relatability, except for with the independence era generation. To be able to rule a nation where 65 percent of population is below 35 years of age was a task in itself. The best way to reach out to the target audience is to speak their language, at their platforms. Hence, concepts such as 'Development', 'Governance', 'Employment', 'Inflation' etc. were being propagated. Of course, this had to be done where the targeted audience is present, hence forums such as SRCC, India Today Conclave etc. were intelligently chosen. Social media where youngsters spend most of their time was used in a highly effective and timing efficient manner.

3. Integrated Marketing Communications is the future. It is one message across various platforms. Modi amalgamated the lethal combination of traditional and new media and used all possible tools to communicate what he stands for. To change the way Political Communications have ever happened in this country, he ran the campaign under the gigantic shoulders of the biggest names such as Piyush Pandey, Prasoon Joshi, Sam Balsara and many more formidable faces in the industry. 

4. No other party in Political history had ever though of connecting with the NRI's.  Modi adroitly did so by engaging with NRI's, especially from the USA and Great Britain via Google Hangout. This became a phenomenal success in extending Brand Modi beyond the national boundaries. 

5. None of this would have been possible if the enormous amount of money was not available to spend in such a lavish fashion. Hence, Modi emerged as someone who is pro-business and industrialists. Time and again with cases such as of Nano factory's ouster from Bengal to setting up in Gujarat with great incentives being provided, to linkages with industrialists such as Ambani and Adani did greater good than harm. While other parties were sweating due to lack of funds, it never came up as an issue for BJP considering its huge support base and likelihood of victory.

6. To run a truly 360 degree campaign and to reach out to the remotest nook and corners, decades old on ground activation continued. Oratory being Narendra Modi's forte, he addresses enumerate rallies across the nation. And where he could't physically reach, technology took him there. 3D Modi hangouts, to consumer touch points at tea stalls, to Modi's messages recorded vans were used to create a Modi buzz.

7. As a ardent Swayamsevak, he found it difficult to become a Mass Leader. So, he kept it on the backseat and emerged as a man in a completely new avatar. Nightmare of 2002 riots till date haunt him. The best way to deal with it was talk factually and minimum and focus on the future. This is exactly what he did and was victoriously able to overcome his past reputation. 

8. India was looking for a strong leader and time and again Modi did not shy away from display of power. Be it his Varanasi extravagant road show, to his candid television appearances, to daring to post a Selfie with Lotus Symbol on the voting day. India knew, he is the right man to represent this nation not just internally but started seeing him as someone who would represent India internationally.

9.  Modi's merchandise and his fashion sense became a phenomenon. His customized Modi kurtas became a youth frenzy. Moreover, his energy and his ability to energize the crowds got him a million eyeballs. He was made to look like a child hero with Bal Modi comics and a resilient youngster with humble beginning. Suddenly, he became a hero and an inspiration for thousands of youngsters who wanted to become just like Modi. 

10. Moreover, his personality was impeccable. Modi was promoted as a leader who is Passionate about India, is highly decisive and a change agent. Modi, being someone who is naturally a Leader was shown as extremely original, never reluctant to sit across the table with the greatest intellectuals of the country and had a foresight. Modi is a visionary. He showed the country his vision for the future and one hundred and fifty crore people followed. Now, that's what real leaders are made up of. 

Most importantly, Modi adapted to the change himself to portray that he can lead by example. He continues to do so, executing a successful campaign still. He created a revolution in the way communications had ever been done in this country and in the manner he is doing so at the moment is all about Modi's long term stay.