No Note Ban Blues Here: BJP to Unleash Expensive UP Poll Campaign

‘Purna bahumat sampurn vikas, BJP par hai vishwas’ has replaced ‘Ab ki baar Modi sarkaar’ in UP.

If you thought the demonetisation would impact political parties with the same intensity that it did the common man, then you are sadly mistaken.

With the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections just months away, parties are expected to pull out all stops to ensure a victory in the coveted state.

The UP polls are expected to be an acid test for the ruling BJP in the wake of the government’s demonetisation announcement.

Power-Packed Campaign

The party is expected to go all out to ensure a heady campaign in the state. From massive hoardings to media advertisements, to street plays and massive rallies, the party plans to shell out massive amounts of money in order to achieve its ambitious target.

Quint Hindi has accessed the documents with details of the party’s extensive plans and the costs they are expected to bear for the same. The hoardings across UP alone are expected to cost a whopping Rs 5.81 crore.

Rs 5 Cr 81 Lakh on Hoardings Alone

	West UP + Lucknow	Middle UP	East UP	Bundelkhand
Seats	145	58	163	25
Hoardings	1634	305	1426	173
Cost (in Rs)	2,77,77,850	42,48,675	2,37,23,180	24,31,250
Total Cost (in Rs)		5,81,80,995

	West UP + Lucknow	Middle UP	East UP	Bundelkhand
Seats	145	58	163	25
Hoardings	1634	305	1426	173
Cost (in Rs)	2,77,77,850	42,48,675	2,37,23,180	24,31,250
Total Cost (in Rs)		5,81,80,995

New Elections, New Slogan

A closer look at these hoardings reveal that the party has revamped their strategy for the polls, this time around. While the 2014 General Elections saw the BJP playing up the 'Ab ki baar, Modi Sarkaar' slogan, for the 2017 UP elections, the party appears to be stressing on its ‘Sabka saath sabka vikaas’ motto.

For the state assembly elections, BJP’s new slogan is ‘Purna bahumat sampurn vikas, BJP par hai vishwas’.

Interestingly, this time around, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s image is absent from the hoardings. In its place are photographs and quotes from farmers, women and young voters.

Focus on Rajputs, Brahmins and Backward Class

BJP leaders made an appearance on one particular hoarding. However, the choice of faces – Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Kalraj Mishra, Uma Bharti and State President Keshav Prasad Morya – reveal that the party plans to focus on garnering votes from not just the Rajput and Brahmin communities but also the backward classes.

These billboards will be installed at all major markets, taxi and bus stands, and within the village or community buildings.

Video Vans to Reach All Voters

Video vans have also been deployed to take the campaign to the voters’ doorsteps. Around 200 of these vans have already hit the streets. The number is expected to go up to 403 after the poll dates are announced.

The party will spend Rs 4,500 per day on each of these rented vehicles – this means an estimated expenditure of Rs 10,88,10,000 for the vans over a two-month period.

Here is a look at the features of these video vans:

1. The campaign vans will be plastered with posters of the party leaders.
2. Each campaign van will carry one KV generator-powered LED TV that will relay speeches of PM Modi, Party President Amit Shah, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and State president Kalraj Mishra.
3. The TV will also play two songs and a 17-minute-long documentary, which has been prepared by the BJP to highlight the failures of the Akhilesh Yadav government.
4. These vans are estimated to cover 80 to 100 km a day.

Street Plays

In order to connect with voters at the ground level, the BJP plans to organise a number of street plays. The party has booked a group of 1,000 artistes for this purpose.

According to sources, another larger group is in talks with the party to join them. This means, in the coming days, more than 2,000 artists will be performing street plays that criticises the Akhilesh Yadav government and promotes the BJP.

Apart from this, the party plans to allocate more funds for rallies across West and East UP. The BJP also drew criticism recently when it purchased around 250 motorcycles in Gorakhpur.

The BJP also plans to splurge on television and newspaper advertisements. Additional costs include the transportation costs and the helicopter tours that will be incurred during the rallies of both PM Modi as well as senior party leaders.

This article was originally published on Quint Hindi