Propaganda war The channel will telecast CMs programmes live till the polls are over A day after the state Assembly elections were announced,an IPTV website and a parallel cable TV channel,NaMo Gujarat,named eponymously after Chief Minister Narendra Modi,began their operations on Thursday. The channel,which will telecast Modis speeches and showcase the achievements of his government,can be accessed across the state through GTPL and In-cable,the two largest cable networks in the state. Namo also means bowing down to in Gujarati. The test signals for NaMo Gujarat started four days ago and the channel was launched without any formal announcement or fanfare Thursday morning. The channel now will be seen 24x7 in all televisions sets with cable connections. For direct-to-home(DTH) and digital TV viewers,the state BJP has partnered with five local Gujarati satellite channels which will broadcast the same content prepared by the NaMo TV. The project is under the supervision of states Industries Minister Saurabh Patel,a trusted aide of Modi,and Parindu Bhagat (Kakubhai) of the BJP,also said to be close to the CM. The BJP has outsourced the project to newhopeinfotainment ltd,an Ahmedabad-based company,and to South India-based leading TV group Asianet TV. A hi-tech new studio has been opened for the channel in Prahladnagar area of Ahmedabad. A senior BJP leader associated with the project said,From today,we have launched NaMo Gujarat and IPTV channel www.namotv.in. Another site www.namoleague.com is already in cyberspace. They will broadcast the CMs recent and old speeche,besides telecasting live his election programmes. There will be live debates in which senior BJP leaders will present the partys views. There will be no negative content. Both the channels will focus on CMs message to the people of state. The channel will likely remain on air till the end of Assembly polls (December-end),but may continue operations if CM wishes so,said a source,while refusing to give an estimated cost of the project. A senior official of the Asianet TV network said the companys role was limited to technical assistance. The content is being managed by newhopeinfotainment and local BJP leaders, he said. The state BJP has already tied up with four major vernacular satellite news and entertainment TV channels where Modis election campaign programmes are being shown live. During the 2007 Assembly elections,the state BJP had started Vande Gujarat IPTV channel,which also functioned through cable network. The channel was run by a businessman in Ahmedabad who also own an IT company. After complaints from the Congress,the Election Commission had put some restrictions on the channel. Anita Karwal,Chief Electoral Officer in Gujarat,could not be reached for a response.
