The BJP is trying to whip up a 2014-like fervour and the Prime Minister has already taken to campaigning, hoping to sway the public mood again, amid a growing realisation among party strategists that another term in 2019 wasn’t possible without a pro-Narendra Modi wave.

Internally, party managers claimed the first round of surveys had been conducted in most states and the results were not exciting.

Insiders said an assessment of the ground situation based on the surveys had shown that the party needs a wave to cross the halfway mark of 272 in the Lok Sabha.

“The popularity of Modiji is more or less intact but we still need a wave. Apart from Opposition unity, there are different kinds of irritants in some states. A wave of support for Modi can only surmount those irritants,” a party manager associated with the surveys said.

Campaign managers said Modi had already hit the turf, addressing rallies, while professional agencies had been hired to run a catchy audiovisual campaign.

Modi has been holding public rallies on the sidelines of government events. The Prime Minister was in two states on Tuesday — Odisha and Kerala. Both were official visits but Modi used them to address rallies. Party leaders said he plans to cover around half the 543 seats before the formal announcement of polls.

BJP chief Amit Shah on Monday tweeted a campaign video that indicated the party’s effort to recreate a 2014-like wave. “Chalo abki baar phir josh wahi jagate hain. Chalo abki baar phir Modi Sarkar banate hai (Let’s generate the same fervour again. Let’s make a Modi government again),” says the tagline of the video.

A leader said the party had so far picked the slogan “Abki baar, phir Modi sarkar”, but a hunt was on for a catchier one.