Ahmedabad gives colour to poll banners

Their destination? Mainly Gujarat, of course, but also Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Most orders have been placed by the Congress; the BJP, Samajwadi Party and Nationalist Congress Party are other customers.

The demand is heavy; the Chhipas express surprise over the number oforders placed from different parts of the country. In fact, the workload has caused cloth to vanish from the market, forcing the printers to order cloth from Rajasthan. Yasin Mandsourwala is printing materials only for the Congress in MP, Rajasthan and Gujarat. His clients include MP Chief Minister Digvijay Singh, Kamal Nath, Suresh Pachauri, Jaswant Singh, Balram Jakhar, Girija Vyas, Rajesh Pilot, T N Seshan and Urmilaben Patel.

Kadarbhai Chhipa name changed says till last year he had been supplying only to the Congress; this year, he8217;s also printing for the BJP, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Laloo Prasad and Sharad Pawar.

All this is a long way, of course, from the dark days when the mills closed. The Chhipas, traditional printers, then set up operations at home to maintain their monopoly. They suffered a setback soon enough, when the EC code of conduct cracked down on printing of banners. The way out, they decided, was in expansion; the Chhipas started tapping opportunities in other states. 8220;It worked thelast time, and this year we have bagged 95 per cent of the printing contract in eight states,8221; says Mandsourwala.

Their USP, he says, is their low rates: Chhipas reportedly charge 35 per cent less money than the others anywhere in the country. 8220;This has made us leaders in this field.8221; Even if others get the contract, they finally approach the Chhipas, he claims.

What helps, the Chhipas say, is their technique, which cuts down on production costs. They are anyway well-versed in the art of matching chemicals with cloth to maximum effect. They use satin and poplin, which are cheap, but prefer satin as it catches the colours faster and more strongly. And the family tradition: All members of the family pitch in.

They have their favourites, of course; Mandsourwala is all praise for Digvijay Singh and shows a copy of the paper on which he had himself designed the banner and written the slogan Desh ki suraksha, sthirta evam vikas ke liye 8212; Congress ko vote dijiye8217;.

Some printers, including Mandsaurwala,had even contacted Chandrababu Naidu but couldn8217;t strike a deal because he was 8220;fussy about rates8221;. The contract eventually went to a printer from Hyderabad. And there is, as with every business, the risk of default on payment. Every year one or two candidates default; 8220;last year was the worst,8221; he says.

Not surprisingly, given the EC code, the Chhipas are reluctant to give details of the quantum of work being done or the money changing hands.

But there8217;s no denying that they8217;ve achieved a degree of comfort they could not have imagined when the mills shut down. Mandsourwala says, only half in jest, that till last year the Chhipas used to travel on sleeper class train tickets. 8220;The nature and urgency of work, however, has forced us to start going by plane.8221; The Chhipas are flying high, just as their customers hope to do.