- Thursday, December 12, 2024
From social media platforms to the city’s roads, innovative posters based on popular movies and trends are copiously used by AAP and BJP to build their narratives
By: Shajil Kumar
IN THE run-up to the Delhi Assembly polls, streets and public places in the national capital are awash with campaign posters as political parties vie for the voters’ attention.
The ruling AAP and its closest rival, BJP, dominate the poster war, sending across political messages like “Phir Layenge Kejriwal” to “Ab Nahi Sahenge, Badal Ke Rahenge” and putting up banners at vantage points like billboards, main roads, residential colonies, walkways and marketplaces across the city.
From social media platforms to the city’s roads, innovative posters based on popular movies and trends are copiously used by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to build their narratives on varying issues, including corruption and law and order.
The two parties have employed creative strategies to attract voters, using AI-generated posters and videos inspired by famous movie dialogues and posters.
Dialogues and catchwords of the blockbuster “Pushpa 2” movie have especially inspired the campaign strategists of the two parties for launching attacks and counter-attacks on each other.
The AAP has targeted union home minister Amit Shah by coming up with a poster featuring the iconic “Mogambo Khush Hua” dialogue from the movie “Mr India”, with Amrish Puri’s villainous character re-imagined to highlight rising concerns in Delhi, including increasing crime rates.
On the streets, the AAP’s posters featuring Kejriwal, accompanied by the “Phir Layenge Kejriwal” slogan, are prominently displayed and illuminated in many areas.
The BJP’s banners proclaiming “Ab Nahin Sahenge, Badal Ke Rahenge” are also making an effort to capture public attention.
“Kejriwal, jawab do – sadkon mein gaddhe hain ya gaddhon mein sadak hai (We demand an answer from Kejriwal — do we have potholes in roads or roads in potholes)?” reads one of the posters in east Delhi, branding the former chief minister as “Jhutha Kejriwal (Kejriwal, a liar)”.
“Jahan nal se naale sa paani aaye, kya ye hai meri Dilli (Is this my Delhi, where sewage water flows from the taps)?” questions another poster displayed on a south Delhi flyover.
Meanwhile, the AAP has posted another creative video on its X handle, using an iconic clip from popular web series “Panchayat”. The video shows a fan running, which switches off after the BJP is elected, accompanied by the tagline “BJP Aayegi, Bijli Jayegi”.
In another dig at the saffron party, the AAP has highlighted Delhi’s education system, referencing Uttar Pradesh’s infamous bulldozer events under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath with the statement – “BJP ko vote diya to aapke bachhon ke school par chal jayega BJP ka bulldozer (if you vote for the BJP, then your kids’ schools will be razed using bulldozers)”.
Hitting back at AAP, the BJP has specifically targeted the mohalla clinics with a poster that reads, “Apni galti ka dosh doosron pe daalne walon se Dilli karegi breakup (Delhi is going to sever ties with those who blame others for their own faults)”.
Elections for the 70-member Delhi Assembly are due in February next year.
The AAP, which is ruling the capital since 2015, is likely to have a direct fight with the BJP as Kejriwal, the party’s national convenor, has ruled out the possibility of any alliance with the Congress.
Bomb threats
The recent bomb threats received by several Delhi schools has triggered a slanging match between AAP and BJP.
AAP voiced concern over the threats and accused the BJP-led Centre of failing to ensure the safety of residents in the national capital.
Responding to the allegations, the BJP said it was regrettable that AAP leaders were encouraging hoax callers through their undue attention to the issue.
About 40 prominent schools in Delhi received bomb threats on Monday, a police official said.
AAP supremo Kejriwal said in a press conference, “The law and order situation in Delhi is getting worse every day. Now our children are not safe as bomb threats are received in many schools and this is not the first time.”
There has been a blast outside a CRPF school in Rohini, so it is not that only threats are being received, he added.
“I want to ask the Union home minister what he is doing to tackle this law and order situation. I would also request him to meet the people of Delhi and assure them of their safety and security,” he said.
Earlier, Kejriwal said in a post on X that Delhi never witnessed such poor law and order and demanded that home minister Shah answer to the city’s people.
Chief minister Atishi alleged that the Centre had failed in its only responsibility of providing safety to the people of Delhi.
In a post on X, she said that from routine crimes of extortion, murders and shootings, now schools were receiving bomb threats.
“Delhi never had such pathetic law and order. The BJP-led central government has failed in its sole responsibility to provide safety to the city’s people,” she charged.
Senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia also expressed concern over the threats.
AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh hit out Shah, saying he should come out of his “slumber”.
This is the second time this year that a large number of schools in Delhi received bomb threats.
Reacting to AAP’s charges, the BJP’s Delhi spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said it was regrettable that Kejriwal was giving “undue publicity and encouragement” to hoax callers.
In August, a 14-year-old school student sent out a threat email to dozens of schools as he didn’t want to go to school, he said. “Can Kejriwal suggest some way to check such threat peddlers with no background in crime?”
“Many times, we have seen people sending threat calls to airports and railway stations as they are getting late in reaching there. It will be better if Kejriwal acts maturely while speaking on such issues,” he said.
In May, more than 200 schools, hospitals and important government installations received similar threats, but the case remained unsolved as the sender had used a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to send the hoax e-mails. (PTI)
