Congress set to revert to traditional poster war to target its rivals

At a time when all political parties are turning to the social media for their campaign in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress has decided to revert to the traditional poster war to target its rivals.

The Congress had virtually stopped putting up posters in elections and it was only during the visits of the top party leaders that welcome posters were being put up.

Party strategists feel that posters continue to make a greater impact in elections. “The reach of social media cannot be denied but for the common man, posters ensure visibility and have recall value,” said a leader.

“The posters will target and question our rival parties. Through catchy slogans we will ask the BJP what happened to the promises it had made in the 29014 Lok Sabha elections, We will raise the issue of inflation that has added to the burden of the middle, salaried class — the BJP’s core voter,” said a party leader who is closely involved with outlining the party’s campaign in the state.

On the issue of farmers and minorities, the Congress posters will ask the Samajwadi Party to do some explaining.

“The Akhilesh government has not even spoken about reservation for Muslims — a promise that the party had made in its manifesto. Attacks on minorities have increased manifold in this regime and communal clashes have recorded an all-time high. The SP has also gone back on its promise of releasing Muslim youth book on false terror charges. Muslims, in fact, have been the worst sufferers in the SP regime,” said Mr Siraj Mehndi, chairman of the party’s minority cell. The Congress will highlight the “cosy relationship” between the SP and BJP in UP.

“Besides this, the Samajwadis claim to be pro-farmer but farmers have been at the receiving end in this government. The chief minister has failed to provide relief to farmers who have lost their crops since the past two years due to inclement weather,” the leader said.

Through a separate series of posters, the Congress will focus on the law and order situation in the state, with special reference to crime against women and dalits. A section of party workers will soon be filing RTI applications to get the statistics from the state government regarding crime.

The BSP will be on the Congress target on the issue of dalits and Most Backward Castes.

The party, which wants to position itself as a viable alternative to the BSP and wean back dalits into its fold, will be questioning Ms Mayawati’s contribution to dalit empowerment. The Congress plans to eulogise the late Kanshi Ram and blame Ms Mayawati for betraying his movement and ideology.

Party strategists feel that the ploy will work because dalits hold Kanshi Ram in high esteem but the same cannot be said for Ms Mayawati.