Modi’s 3D rallies kick off

Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi’s poll speech using the first-of-its-kind 3D holographic projection technology, which was postponed on April 7 due to technical glitches, was finally telecast live at a hundred places in the country at one go on Friday evening.

After unique mass-contact programmes like chai pe charcha and google hangout, Modi is now trying yet another innovative campaign strategy, the high-tech, novel 3D hologram virtual reality speeches to reach out to millions of voters. The Gujarat chief minister’s first 3D address was kicked off on Friday evening after he returned to Ahmedabad from Orissa and Chhatisgarh where he spoke at four rallies earlier in the day.

In his 3D image, Modi looked a bit taller than he really is due to a configuration error, and in a couple of places like Indore, technical glitches played spoilsport but Modi interacted with the participants using normal video conferencing ways at the scheduled hours.

In his one-hour address that ended at 8.18pm on Friday, Modi said he was happy to get in touch with ‘young, digital India’.

He was talking about the groundswell of support his party was getting from youth on the Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms and hoped that his party would be given a decisive mandate in the general elections for heralding a bright future for the country.

Modi will deliver nine more similar speeches in special studios which will be telecast in over 1,000 places--100 venues in every talk--after sunset with Bihar, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Delhi and nine venues in Gujarat being covered in Friday’s post-sunset inaugural event.

• India