Cong vs BJP 8212; Who blinks first?

NEW DELHI, AUG 29: The war of advertisements between the Congress and the BJP has acquired corporate proportions. On Friday, it became bi...

NEW DELHI, AUG 29: The war of advertisements between the Congress and the BJP has acquired corporate proportions. On Friday, it became bizarre, with odds changed every hour, the excitement beat the cola wars. And who blinked first?

The Congress Party8217;s publicity committee planned to insert an advertisement in all leading newspapers of the Capital and booked space accordingly. The focus of the campaign was Kargil again. But the ad material was to reach newspaper offices only late in the night 8212; 24 Akbar Road wanted it to be a top secret. Yet at midnight, the advertisement was withheld.

The reason: The BJP8217;s media managers were aware of the Congress secret8217; and were ready with the counter-advertisement of the same size and had booked the space on the facing page in all the newspapers.

Once the Congress learnt of the booking by Lok Abhiyan, an organisation headed by Vijay Goel, a trusted member of Prime Minister8217;s political management team, it decided to withdraw the ad. Though Congress media managersare tight-lipped about the cancellation of the booking, they admit that the advertisement was withheld at the last moment.

The Congress had termed the BJP a 8220;third party8221; in Kargil in the ad that never was. It said if the victory was of the Army and the people of India, who is this 8220;third party8221; to claim any credit?

The BJP8217;s counter-ad 8212; which was to appear on the facing page 8212; said if the Army was fighting, the Congress was demoralising it and making headlines for the Pakistani Television.

The counter-advertisement was drafted in 30 minutes, handed over to the production unit and dispatched for insertion in newspapers immediately. The BJP thought it had beaten the Congress but was shocked to find that the opponent had cancelled its ad.

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Both parties are waiting for the next release and are worried too about the moles within. They think advertisement agencies or mediamen are leaking information to the rival. Until last week, the ad war was confined to putting counter advertisements the followingday. The Congress, for instance, put an advertisement asking 8220;If Pokharan was a deterrent, why was there a Kargil war ?8221; Pat came the reply by Lok Abhiyan the next day: 8220;A responsible Oppn does not play politics when the Nation is at War.8221;

While the Congress is working with agencies such as Sony, Concept, Madison and LiveWire, the BJP has also a team of its own professionals to execute mid-way changes which the agencies are usually reluctant to do.