New Delhi: From “simple emotional” music-based street theatre presentations on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 25 years of public life to influencers coming in to showcase “transformative” projects, to 500 riders on 250 motorcycles carrying sacred waters between Vadnagar and Varanasi – these are a part of 14 modules that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has devised for month-long celebrations of Modi’s birthday and 25 years of his public life since he first became Gujarat chief minister.The Wire has seen the minutes of a meeting headed by the Haryana chief secretary on September 2, with all administrative secretaries, which decided how the BJP government in the state will engage government machinery for the month-long activities. The minutes also provide details on how the event will unfold in other state governments under the BJP.In the past 12 years the BJP has sought to project one photo, that of Modi, even during the G-20 summit in Delhi in 2023 or now with BRICS, despite these being summit meetings. Modi’s birthdays have been used to introduce more cult-like fanfare from the BJP and its leaders. The scale of the celebrations last year when he turned 75 were unprecedented as a concerted attempt was seen to flip the speculation around his retirement. Similar efforts are underway this year to promote Modi’s birthday and the completion of 25 years of his public life, despite the milestones coming months after his government faced unprecedented youth protests that forced the resignation of union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.Last month, following BJP president Nitin Nabin’s first meeting with his new team of national office bearers, the party’s general secretary Vinod Tawde announced that along with the Seva Pakhwada that the party undertakes to mark Modi’s birthday, this year will include month-long celebrations to mark 25 years of Modi’s public life.Tawde had said while addressing the media following the meeting:“Every year, the BJP observes a ‘Seva Pakhwada’ across the country to mark the birthday of the PM, on September 17th. Modi’s whole life is dedicated to Seva which is why the party celebrates Seva Pakhwada. This October 7 marks the completion of 25 years since the PM took the oath as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. The party decided to launch a month-long nationwide ‘Seva Sankalp Abhiyan’ through which Modi’s service will be highlighted.”Seva Sankalp Abhiyan Modules to Celebrate Modi’s Birthday and 25 Years in Public Life ‘Ashirvad Ka Diya’: Lighting lamps on September 17 for Modi’s birthday‘India of the Dreams of 250 Million Children’: Drawing and speech competitions across all government and private schools on Viksit Bharat‘NAMO Seva Gatha’: A ‘simple, emotional’ music-based street theatre presentation on 25 years of Modi’s public life‘Aangan Ka Utsav’: Anganwadi and ASHA workers to be felicitated while two-three workers will share their experiences‘Kahani Badlav Ki’: Two authentic beneficiary stories to be highlighted as success stories per day via a nationwide competition and a ‘Every Shakti Kendra 10 Reels’ campaign‘Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra’: Government to facilitate influencers, YouTubers, and digital content creators’ visit to transformative projects and locations‘Seva Jyoti Yatra’: District-level torch yatras originating from villages and culminating at headquarters with a collective ‘Sankalp for Viksit Bharat 2047’ vow‘Vadnagar to Varanasi, Jal, Jan aur Seva Sankalp Yatra’: 500 riders on 250 bikes carrying sacred waters between Vadnagar and Varanasi in LED-lit vehicles‘Seva Mera Yogdan’: Citizen engagement with 25 designated “service activities” including blood donation, old age home visits, tree plantation, Swachhta Hi Seva, health check-up camps, among others‘Seva Setu Abhiyan’: Block-level service camps will be organised for doorstep delivery of government services‘Rangoli Rashtra’: Use of natural materials to highlight nationalism, welfare schemes, cultural heritage, and Viksit Bharat 2047, including human rangolis and large-scale ‘Bharat Mandal’ formations in selected cities‘National Innovation Challenge’: Innovators across five regional centres in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bengaluru, Delhi, and Kolkata will participate‘Jan Sevak Mahakumbh-Panchayat to Parliament’: A major national gathering of 1.25 lakh public representatives to mark Modi’s 25 years of “public service and good governance”‘Overseas participation in Mahayagya’: Overseas Indians will offer Ahuti in hour-long Maha Yagyas organised across 25 selected countriesThe month-long celebration will be from September 17 to October 17 beginning with the lighting of diyas to mark Modi’s 76th birthday, to music and theatre presentations on 25 years of his public life.The month will also see a major national gathering of 1.25 lakh public representatives to mark Modi’s 25 years of “public service and good governance” while youth engagement will be sought through start-ups, professionals, and grassroots innovators across five regional centres in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bengaluru, Delhi, and Kolkata. Overseas Indians will offer virtual fire sacrifices or ahuti in hour-long Maha Yagyas.Several BJP governments including in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Assam have already started preparations, including high-level meetings to chalk out how the events for September 17 to October 17 will proceed. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath on September 1 held a high-level discussion on the campaign’s action plan which will include laser shows at prominent monuments, special rituals at major pilgrimage sites, village meetings and direct public interactions.On September 7, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma chaired a meeting on the state’s implementation of the campaign, while West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari too held a cabinet meeting on it on the same day.A busy calendarThe Wire has seen the minutes of a meeting headed by the Haryana chief secretary on September 2 with all administrative secretaries which sought to discuss and finalise roles, responsibilities, and the implementation mechanism for the 14 modules of the Abhiyan. The 14 modules of the month-long Seva Sankalp Abhiyan include ‘Ashirvad ka Diya’, ‘India of the Dreams of 250 Million Children’, ‘NAMO Seva Gatha’, ‘Aangan Ka Utsav’, ‘Kahani Badlav Ki’, ‘Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra’, ‘Seva Jyoti Yatra’, ‘Vadnagar to Varanasi- Jal, Jan aur Seva Sankalp Yatra’, ‘Seva Mera Yogdan’, ‘Seva Setu Abhiyan’, ‘Rangoli Rashtra’, ‘National Innovation Challenge’, ‘Jan Sevak Mahakumbh-Panchayat to Parliament’, ‘Overseas participation in Mahayagya’.Ashirvad ka Diya will be organised as a booth-level programme in which government scheme beneficiaries as well as those who have received Covid-19 vaccinations will light lamps on the evening of September 17, Modi’s birthday.‘India of the Dreams of 250 Million Children’ will be conducted from September 17 to October 7 when drawing and speech competitions will be organised across all government and private schools on Viksit Bharat. The School Education and Elementary Education Departments will issue circulars, prepare information material for teachers, designate a School Nodal Officer per school, facilitate exhibitions and award State-level winners with a Certificate of Merit signed by the chief minister. The minutes of the meeting say that the state’s art and culture department will under the ‘NAMO Seva Gatha’ organise “simple, emotional” music-based street theatre presentation on 25 years of Modi’s public life from September 17 onwards. This will be organised across schools, colleges, panchayats, and community centres.Between September 25 and October 7, three-day programmes will be organised at every Anganwadi Centre, and two to three Anganwadi workers will be required to share their experiences. Anganwadi workers will also be felicitated along with ASHA workers, with the state’s Women and Child Development acting as the nodal ministry.For the ‘Kahani Badlav Ki’ module, two authentic beneficiary stories are to be highlighted as success stories per day via a nationwide competition and a ‘Every Shakti Kendra 10 Reels’ campaign.Under the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra the government will facilitate bringing content creators and influencers to the state and send local creators to other states. The minutes show that this is likely part of a national plan in which influencers will go across states.“This module will involve facilitating Influencers, YouTubers, and Digital Content Creators to visit transformative projects and locations (Host State role) and deputing local creators to other states (Sending State role) across 50 national sites,” the meeting minutes say.The Seva Jyoti Yatra will involve district-level torch journeys originating from villages with a collective ‘Sankalp for Viksit Bharat 2047’ vow. Additionally, the meeting minutes said that at the national level, the ‘Vadnagar to Varanasi: Jal, Jan aur Seva Sankalp Yatra’ will have 500 riders on 250 bikes carrying sacred waters between Vadnagar and Varanasi. The vehicles will be LED-lit. Through the month, ‘Seva Mera Yogdan’ will include citizen engagement with district municipal commissioners acting as nodal officers in each district. This will include 25 designated service activities including blood donation, old age home visits, tree plantation, Swachhta Hi Seva, health check-up camps, digital literacy, cyber security, yoga, Nasha Mukt Bharat, riverfront cleaning or beautification, among others, the meeting decided.The meeting also decided that under ‘Seva Setu Abhiyan’ block level service camps will be organised for doorstep delivery of government services while ‘Rangoli Rashtra’ will use natural materials to highlight “nationalism, welfare schemes, cultural heritage, and Viksit Bharat 2047, including human rangolis and large- scale ‘Bharat Mandal’ formations (~108 meters in diameter) in selected cities,” the minutes said.Under the National Innovation Challenge, youth engagement will be sought through start-ups, professionals, and grassroots innovators across five regional centres in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata through online applications, live demos, and jury evaluations.For the ‘Jan Sevak Mahakumbh-Panchayat to Parliament’ module the minutes of the meeting said Development and Panchayats Department will coordinate with the union Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Rural Development, and Ministry of Panchayati Raj for a major national gathering of 1.25 lakh public representatives to mark Modi’s 25 years of “public service and good governance”.“A major national gathering of approximately 1.25 lakh public representatives, including Sarpanches, across venues like Delhi, Gurugram, Ghaziabad, Surajkund, or Varanasi, marking 25 years of public service and good governance under Hon’ble Prime Minister. The details will be shared subsequently,” the meeting minutes said.Further, under the ‘Overseas participation in Mahayagya’, overseas Indians will offer Ahuti in an hour-long Maha Yagyas organised across 25 selected countries matching global sunrise timings.In June this year, in response to a RTI query filed by former TMC MP Saket Gokhale revealed that Rs 2,586 crore was spent by the government on promoting Modi.In February, the government informed parliament that the Modi government spent Rs 119.79 crore on print advertisements in the financial year 2024-25. Earlier in December, another written reply in parliament said that government advertising expenditure over the past five years has totalled nearly Rs 2,447 crore, averaging roughly Rs 1.34 crore per day.Last year to mark Modi’s 75th birthday, newspapers to politicians, sportspersons, celebrities, industrialists, private companies, educational institutions and exhibitions, one and all came out to participate in the blitzkrieg of Modi’s birthday celebrations.