Bindis, key chains, jingles mark poll fever

MUMBAI, SEPT 7: The crimson red bindi with a miniature imprint of the Congress hand' vies for attention along with tri-coloured pens, pl...

MUMBAI, SEPT 7: The crimson red bindi with a miniature imprint of the Congress hand’ vies for attention along with tri-coloured pens, plastic coated flags and jazzy key chains bearing photographs of a beaming Atalji’ — even as the gigantic cut-outs of party leaders, Bal Thackeray, Sonia Gandhi and Sharad Pawar loom large in the background.

With the election campaign in the city hotting up, the major parties in the State are all out to woo the voters through a multi-pronged campaign ranging from inaugurating a web site to pasting traditional posters announcing the party’s candidate in the constituency.

While audio cassettes with modified lyrics, set to catchy tunes of popular Hindi film songs, blare at party offices in the State, video cassettes, with party leaders delivering messages in their inimitable styles, are all set to capture the voters fancy as he battles between the old familiar hand’, the dominating lotus’, the much popular bow and arrow’ and the recent table clock’.

According to MPCCgeneral secretary, Rajeev Chavan, the party had already began distributing 11,000 flags to each Lok Sabha candidate and 5000 flags to every Vidhan Sabha candidates. Each Congress candidate had been allotted 2200 posters, 20 cassettes carrying the popular Congress jingle and two cut-outs of the Congress leader, Sonia Gandhi.

The Sena, which has systematically organised distribution of publicity material through six main centres, Nagpur, Amravati, Sambhaji Nagar, Nasik, Thane and Konkan, has so far distributed more than 5000 booklets detailing the achievements of the Shivshahi’.

The NCP on the other hand has distributed 100 copies of the party’s manifestoes, three sets of audio and video cassettes to each candidate in addition to pamphlets, and one lakh badges. The BJP office in Mumbai has received nearly 1000 cut outs of Vajpayee to be distributed.

According to Chavan, while in the metros the Congress had resorted to the use of electronic media from e-mails, web sites, cable network, audio and visualcassettes for publicity, in the rural, it had decided to stick to the traditional methods of posters and badges to promote the party.

Story continues below this ad

However, according to an NCP spokesperson, the arbitrary’ implementation of the code of conduct had created problems as far as the use of the traditional modes of publicity were concerned. “We are now afraid to hoist flags or stick posters as we are unsure when it will be whisked away on the grounds that it violates the code of conduct,” he added.

The Election Commission’s restrictions have also had their repercussions on another front – the expenditure aspect. According to a Congress spokesperson, “While some time back we used to send scores of jeeps carrying publicity material, now just a handful are deployed for the same purpose’.

Cashing on the election fever are several private entrepreneurs like Ajay Agrawal who runs the Sheela Enterprises dealing in manufacture and sale of publicity material.