News Broadcasting
BJP spokesperson M A Naqvi
From being a junior minister to former information and broadcasting minister Sushma Swaraj few years back, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has come a long way to become one of the young Turks for the Hindu-dominated Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been accused to be having allegedly an agenda against the minorities of the country.
Though many had thought that the political career of this Muslim leader from Uttar Pradesh would be short-lived after he was shunted out of the government to the party, Naqvi has proved skeptics wrong. Not only has he risen up within the party ranks as one of the general secretaries and a party spokesperson, he was also nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the BJP soon after.
As part of an integral part of the media cell of the BJP, Naqvi is hopping from one TV studio to another these days in the run up to the general elections. In this interview with indiantelevision.com’s Anjan Mitra in his Delhi residence, Naqvi discusses some of the issues relating to the party’s media and communication strategy for the elections.
Excerpts:
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On the broad media strategy of the party for the general elections… |
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On the people behind the media strategy… On the type of media spend that has been that has earmarked for the general elections. The full budget is not yet ready and it’d be difficult also to put a figure to it. In our party such things work at various levels. There is a central media budget, while the state units have their separate funds too. Full information on this is still to come to the party headquarters. But I must point out that media speculations on the BJP’s advertising and media budget have put figures on the higher side. (A recent news report in a business daily had stated that BJP alone may end up spending close to one billion rupees on its media and communications plan) |
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On whether TV channels too would form an integral part of the plan… But, at this moment, the details of the channels have not been finalized as we are still awaiting a directive from the Election Commission and would also have to wait for the final outcome of the issue of advertising on the electronic medium. |
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On the break-up of media share of various segments |
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On the two major new areas being tapped for media… The second major area could be TV, if the controversies are ironed out. |
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On outside professional help being taken this time… |
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On whether surrogate advertising, targeting opposition politicians like Sonia Gandhi is in good taste… |
News Broadcasting
Times Network to air JVC Exit Poll across 5 regions on April 29
Four-hour broadcast spans states and Puducherry with data-led analysis
MUMBAI: Times Network is set to roll out what it calls one of its most expansive election programming efforts yet, culminating in the JVC Exit Poll on 29 April, with a multi-hour broadcast spanning key poll-bound regions.
The exit poll will air across Times Now and Times Now Navbharat, beginning at 5pm and 4pm respectively. Co-powered by Vedanta and Jindal Stainless, the programming aims to combine on-ground reportage with data-driven projections across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry.
The network has deployed over 50 journalists across these regions, gathering voter sentiment and local insights in the run-up to polling. The effort builds on its ongoing election formats such as Election Yatra and Election Premier League, which have tracked campaign narratives and community-level issues.
In parallel, Times Now Navbharat has focused on constituency-level reporting in West Bengal through its Jan Gan ka Mann series, capturing voter opinions across diverse segments.
The coverage has also featured interviews with prominent political leaders. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Congress leaders Ramesh Chennithala and V D Satheesan have appeared on the network’s election specials. From Tamil Nadu, voices including deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran, BJP leader K Annamalai and NTK’s Seeman have also featured in discussions.
On the day of the exit poll, the network’s primetime anchors, including Navika Kumar, Zakka Jacob and Sumit Awasthi, will lead the coverage. They will be joined by a panel of political analysts, psephologists and senior journalists offering real-time insights and interpretation of trends.
The programming will integrate grassroots reportage with analytics from the JVC Exit Poll, aiming to give viewers an early sense of electoral outcomes ahead of the official results on 4 May.
With its combined English and Hindi broadcast reach, Times Network is positioning this effort as a comprehensive look at voter sentiment, blending field reporting, data and debate to decode what could lie ahead when the final mandate is revealed.
