Model code undercuts cut-out makers

If you went to Ramesh Dutta Lane in Girish Park before any elections,you would remember the artists frantically working on cut- outs of political leaders and party symbols.

If you went to Ramesh Dutta Lane in Girish Park before any elections,you would remember the artists frantically working on cut- outs of political leaders and party symbols. Huge bamboo and card board structures,splashes of colours of various parties,and cut-outs of faces of various political leaders would tell you that election has arrived. But a visit to the place this time would bring out a rather dejected and desolate picture.

While the media is filled with news about the upcoming Assembly elections,many would have noticed the absence of traditional methods of campaigning like banners,cut-outs and flags. The roads are clean,the lamp posts are left alone and the only sign of the elections if you go out are the occasional wall paintings and small flags of the parties. The Election Commissions ban on these in order to curb the money flow during elections has adversely affected several businessmen.

Shops around Chandni Chowk previously made profits by selling flags,caps,badges and shawls during election time,but this time the story is different. Everyone was busy with the cricket World Cup. There is hardly any order this time,says Debashish Dhar(22),a shopkeeper. Though he expects sales to increase in the coming weeks,cut-out artists at Girish Park have a grim story to share. Unlike the Lok Sabha elections,this time we do not have any order of cut outs till date, says 58-year-old Tapan Santra. Last elections saw huge 10-foot cut-outs of leaders being showcased across the city,but this time the only order they got was small ones featuring party symbols.

While Santra blames the use of newer campaigning methods for this,commercial artist Lakshmi Chand Singha(48),who has been in this profession for several years,has a different take. The ban of the Election Commission on banners and flexes has made sure that we wont earn any money during the elections.

Election was a chance for the commercial artists working in this area to earn a few extra money. Till the Lok Sabha elections in 2009,huge cut-outs were sold for as much as Rs 2,500. But this time,they have received only a handfull of orders and that too for small party symbols,which hardly earns them any profit. With the elections knocking on the door,they have left all hope of getting any bulk orders this time.

The business of flexes and banners has also been hard hit,thanks to this ban. A visit to flex artist Deepak Pals shop in Lohapatty found him working on an opera hoarding. Talks revealed that till now,there hasnt been a single order from any party. Maybe both the big parties CPM and Trinamool Congress are sure about the results. Thats why they dont feel the need for campaigning any more,he said,visibly distressed with this new development.

But the political parties this time have decided to campaign using newer forms of communication like television and Internet. They are also resorting to communicating to every voter individually through SMSes and social networking sites like Facebook and Orkut. And in this new wave,older methods are dying a slow and sure death.

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The cut-out and banner business is losing ground with every passing day. Many artists have already left the profession due to lack of money. At this juncture,will the Election Commissions directives prove to be the last nail in the coffin? Will the artists able to continue through this loss of a major income source? Only time can tell.

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