Advertising gets a new meaning after the EC banned cutouts in public places.
Politicians, like film stars, can continue to enjoy a larger-than-life image in the hearts of the people of Tamil Nadu. But not in cutouts and banners.
Following the Election Commission’s (EC) imposition of a large number of restrictions on campaigning by political parties, the famous Tamil tradition of sky-high cutouts and jumbo banners has virtually ended. Nowhere in this land of Rajanikanth (where fans not only erect 60-feet high cutouts but also pour gallons of milk on them) can cutouts of poll stars be seen.
Instead, the beaming faces of the Jayalalithaas and the Karunanidhis have to be contained in 8X4 frames on the streets. In public meetings, bigger banners are allowed but only for a limited period.
So from Flex India, near the Madurai railway station, to Bluestar Paper and Stationary in Chennai’s Parrys area, everywhere the banner and poster industry offers the same melancholy quote: “business is down.”
“For this election, we have made around 15,000 sq ft of plastic banners. This is at least 30 per cent less than what we had sold even during the 2006 Madurai corporation election,” said SP Balasubramaniyam of Flex India.
While a woman designs a poster of Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) boss “captain” Vijaykanth on her computer, Balasubramaniyam and his son say, “Karunanidhi’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is giving the maximum orders.”
If Madurai, where Karunanidhi’s son MK Azhagiri is contesting his maiden Lok Sabha battle, is witnessing heavy orders from the party of the rising sun, in Chennai, Purutchi Thalaivi (revolutionary leader, Jayalalithaa) is the favourite of many campaign material traders.
“More or less, all party supporters are buying election items. But All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and Amma’s (Jayalalitha’s ) materials are selling more,” smiles Dhanashekhar in his family shop at Parrys.
Flags and caps are the biggest hits in this summer season of politics, according to KR Tamilarasan, another shop owner at Chintadripet.
In Madurai — where more than 70 companies are in the flex business — R Magesh, manager at Nanda Flex, says, the maximum orders are for marriage ceremonies in this season of Lok Sabha elections.
The EC has banned “hoardings or banners on public roads, footpaths or on any government place” and in private land these will be allowed “only with prior no objection certificate (NOC) from the occupants or landlords”.
Also, the cost of these materials is now added to the Rs 25 lakh ceiling of campaign expenses for a Lok Sabha candidate, making it more difficult for poll stars to afford such luxuries.
But in the land where Anna (elder brother, legendary former CM Annadurai) and Amma (Jayalalitha, the universal mother), are icons of politics, there are always novel ways to circumvent the EC.
So, at Parrys, wedding cards with pictures of politicians on the cover are on display. “This variety of political wedding cards has been a tradition for the last 20 years. But now, as the wedding season overlaps the election schedule, the sale of these cards has risen,” says Joseph, manager of Olympic Wedding Cards Co.
Joseph’s showroom has seen a rise in the sale of these cards by around 10 per cent over the same period last year.
“Around 65 per cent cards sold are the traditional ones. But the rest are cards with faces of politicians. After all, we are politically sensitive people. And yes, cards of Karunanidhi sell more,” says Joseph.
Akhtar Ali of Bluestar Paper and stationary also has wedding cards with pictures of all local leaders ranging from Jayalalitha to Vaiko but claims, “Amma’s cards are selling more!”
These political cards are available in the range of Rs 2 to Rs 150 per piece. But this is not the end of political innovation. In many corners of roads — both in rural and urban areas — visitors can see colourful plastic banners advertising the marriage of a local boy or a girl. And most of these banners contain pictures of political leaders depending on the allegiance of the family.
The EC’s strictures are in place. But in this poll season marriages can be an alternative platform to prove a political point!
