India Shining

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India Shining, India Rising (Hindi: भारत उदय ) was a marketing slogan referring to the overall feeling of economic optimism in India in 2004. The slogan was popularised by the then-ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the 2004 Indian general elections. The slogan is initially developed as a part of an Indian government campaign intended to promote India internationally.

Advertising firm Grey Worldwide won the campaign account in 2003; the slogan and the associated campaign was developed by national creative director Prathap Suthan, in consultation with Finance Minister Jaswant Singh.[1][2] The government spent an estimated 20 million USD of government funds on national television advertisements and newspaper ads featuring the "India Shining" slogan.[3]

Some editorials also suggested that the India Shining campaign was one of the causes for the subsequent defeat of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in the 2004 parliamentary elections, particularly in urban areas, the target audience of the campaign.[4][5][6]

The negative assessment of the India Shining campaign was echoed after the election by former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, who described it as "valid," but "inappropriate for our election campaign... By making them verbal icons of our election campaign, we gave our political opponents an opportunity to highlight other aspects of India's contemporary reality... which questioned our claim."[7][8]

  1. ^ "I would have done the same campaign for the Congress". Mid-Day. 15 February 2004. Archived from the original on 8 March 2007. Retrieved 14 September 2006.
  2. ^ "The Man Behind the 'India Shining' Slogan". Rediff. 2 April 2004. Retrieved 13 September 2006.
  3. ^ Perry, Alex (16 February 2004). "Subcontinental Divide". TIME Asia. Archived from the original on 12 January 2005. Retrieved 13 September 2006.
  4. ^ "The Meaning of Verdict 2004". The Hindu. 14 May 2004. Archived from the original on 29 June 2004. Retrieved 13 September 2006.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^ Biswas, Soutik (13 May 2004). "How India's elections were won and lost". BBC. Retrieved 13 September 2006.
  6. ^ "India shines through Verdict 2004". The Hindu. 14 May 2004. Archived from the original on 24 December 2007. Retrieved 13 September 2006.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^ "BJP admits 'India Shining' error". BBC. 28 May 2004. Retrieved 13 September 2006.
  8. ^ "India Shining backfired: Advani". The Times of India. 29 May 2004. Archived from the original on 27 December 2005. Retrieved 13 September 2006.