Chandigarh, April 8, 2009, Dr.Avnish Jolly : A special ‘India Election Train’ – a multiplatform, multilingual initiative- delivering international audiences a diverse range of news from across India, during the run-up to the country’s General Election in May is ready to leave for an all India journey. The train is likely to pass through Punjab. Former Union Minister and BSP Candidate from Chandigarh seat Mr Harmohan Dhawan has also welcomed the idea of BBC India Election Train.
From Saturday, 25 April until Wednesday, 13 May reporters from the BBC’s Global News division will travel through India by train, investigating what Indians want from their General Election and the key themes surrounding it.
On board the train will be reporters from BBC World Service English, BBC Hindi, BBC Urdu, BBC Tamil, BBC Bengali, BBC Somali, BBC Swahili, BBC World News television, Arabic TV, Persian TV and BBC.Com/ news. Highly knowledgeable about the country, a number permanently based there, the journalists will broadcast stories to the world, across radio, TV and online.
The BBC has worked with Indian Railways to design a timetable for the project and the train is likely to travel along the following route: Dehli- Chandigarh- Ahmedabad- Mumbai- Hyderabad- Bhubaneswar- Kokata – Patna- Allahabad- Dehli. With the team visiting major population centres, as well as contrasting provincial towns and rural areas, the BBC’s global audience will get to hear the views of a wide range of Indian voters.
Online users will be able to track the journey of the train through a special interactive map and a daily blog available on the BBC’s India Election webpage www.bbc.com/india. BC reporters will investigate a variety of topics throughout their journey, with a key one being India’s response to the current economic crisis.