BENGALURU: At a time when hashtags and vlogs are increasingly being used as marketing tools by poll managers Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah does not want to be left behind: He has given the green signal for setting up a video-recording studio at his official residence 'Krishna' in Bengaluru.The CM's strategy, which comes in the run-up to the 2018 assembly elections in the state, is aimed at receiving positive media attention for his government's achievements. The sound-proof studio is coming up on a 20x30 plot inside Krishna , and work is being executed by the state's public works department.A source close to the CM told TOI: "The studio will not only be used to give television interviews but also for recording and relaying messages for Independence Day or any other issue of utmost public importance. Professionals have been roped in to ensure that the lighting and acoustics in the studio is of top-notch quality. The single-room studio will serve as a plug-and-play platform for television channels who try to reach the CM."In fact, the idea of a studio stemmed from complaints made by television channels crew. An official in the chief minister's office (CMO) said: "There are about a dozen Kannada news channels and many English channels operating from Bengaluru. Earlier, the chief minister would give interviews to television channels from his home-office Krishna. But there is a space constraint in the home-office as there are only two halls and nearly an hour is required to create space and set up lighting. In fact, there have been complaints from television channel reporters that their recordings have distractions and are not good when telecast. Hence, the idea of a studio came up."Work on the studio, which started in December 2016, is set for completion in the next few weeks. However, the cost of the studio is yet to be made public. The backroom managers of Siddaramaiah's poll campaign maintain that the studio is another step to putting in place an effective media management strategy.Siddaramaiah has been reaching out to the people through social media platforms and recently tried to shore up his image by popularizing his budget with the hashtag "#JanaparaBudget". He recently launched 'Pratibimba', a web-based platform to showcase the performance of his government.

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