The election fever has kicked in and it is time for smart and tech-savvy strategists to roll up their sleeves. Be it offline or online, the political parties are battling it out in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana by coming up with unique campaigns to grab eyeballs and muster support. With elections just a few weeks away, political hashtags are trending, leaders are mouthing catchy lines and stage is decked up, providing the perfect backdrop for the electoral battle.
Fashion Show Ramps and Town Halls
The stage at a YSR Congress Party meeting, minus the crowds, can easily be mistaken for a music concert or a fashion show. The ramp, covered in YSRCP flag, is 220 feet in horizontal length. This is the stage for ‘Samara Shankaravam’ programme, which has been designed in such a way that party leaders can walk down in different directions and interact with the cadre. The concept has been designed by poll strategist Prashant Kishor’s I-PAC, who are the advisors for the party. The multiple meetings held so far with this concept has grabbed eyeballs.
The campaign of YSRCP also has a filmy touch to it. The recently released hit movie, Yatra, with Mammootty in the lead, is about former chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy. A few emotional dialogues from the movie had become popular with the masses. One of them is Nenu Vinnanu, Nenu Unnanu which roughly translates to ‘I have heard you, and I am there for you’. Y.S. Jagan is seen using these lines while addressing the public during election campaigns.
In TDP meetings and rallies, colour seems to be playing a major role. The party colour, yellow, is seen extensively on and off stage at meetings. The party workers, volunteers and even the general public are seen wearing yellow attire.
In Telangana, the MIM party has tried something different this time. Under the banner, ‘Learn’, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi is participating in town halls across the city. With journalists as moderators, he is seen interacting with audience, who are strictly students. According to the team behind this initiative, this idea is to bridge the gap between the party and urban youngsters who may not attend their regular public meetings or understand their ideology.
In the web world it is a war of hashtags
A slogan that will reverberate during the entire campaign period of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is on one personality—N. Chandrababu Naidu. The AP Chief Minister and the party candidates have started using #MeeBhavishyattuNaaBadhyata which means ‘Your future, my responsibility’. The public relations firm handling TDP account, Genesis BCW, has come up with the slogan. Introduced just a few days back, the slogan has trended.
The main opposition party in Andhra Pradesh, YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), has been aggressively using two slogans that have clicked in a big way. These two Telugu hashtags are #NinnuNamammBabu (We don’t trust you Babu) and #RavaliJaganKavaliJagan (We wait for Jagan, we need Jagan). Though many hashtags have been tried by the party supporters and some leaders, these two have got the maximum traction.
The twitter handle of AP unit of BJP, though busy with their pan-India slogan #MainBhiChowkidar, has also trained their guns on Naidu. Though not as aggressive as the regional parties in terms of using hashtags for local elections, the AP BJP has been using #StickerBabu. Through the slogan, the party is accusing Chandrababu Naidu of taking undue credit for centre’s schemes.
Coming to Telangana. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which is riding high with their recent win in state elections, is using #MissionTRS16 to achieve their target of 16 out 17 MP seats.
The Congress seems to be left out of this front at regional level as the social media teams of both states seem to be too busy taking on BJP and Modi in the cyber space without going after the local players.
