In politics, image is everything – as also its circulation. In Patna these days, from the airport to the railway station to Gandhi Maidan to the famous Boring Road, pictures of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi leap out from green and saffron posters. Just as politicians attempt to outdo each other in rhetoric, these posters compete in size and number.
Not that they count for a whole lot. As any perceptive political analyst at any tea shop in Bihar will tell you, the noise of print and digital campaigning is nothing but a sideshow before the state assembly elections later this year. The real battle is taking place somewhere else – in caste alliances, vote consolidation, door-to-door campaigning, and party meetings at various levels.
Still, the proliferation of political hoardings and posters at street corners beg the question: what purpose do they serve? Is it to sway the undecided voters, that is, if there are any in the caste-driven politics of Bihar? Or is it to be seen and heard at many places at the same time?
For some hint, let’s look at the media campaigns of the major parties:
Janata Dal (United)
The first man to launch his election campaign was Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Even before he was formally announced as the chief ministerial candidate of the Janata Dal (United)-Rashtriya Janata Dal alliance, Nitish Kumar had hired Prashant Kishor, the consultant who ran Modi’s successful Lok Sabha campaign, to head his re-election bid. Since then, Kishor and his team of savvy consultants have been churning out an aggressive print and digital campaign.
The green and yellow poster of Nitish Kumar – with three children in the backdrop and the slogan “Phir ek baar Nitish Kumar” – is a nod to the campaign’s focus: the chief minister wants another chance to continue the development work he has carried out in the past 10 years.
One gets the same message from the theme song for Nitish Kumar’s election campaign. Composed by Sneha Khanwalkar (of Gangs of Wasseypur fame) and penned by Rajshekhar (of Tanu Weds Manu fame), it tells the listener: “Bihar me bahar ho, Nitishe Kumar ho” (Let there be spring in Bihar, Let there be Nitish Kumar).
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s media campaign is concentrated on targeting the JD(U)-RJD alliance. “Apradh, Bhrashtachar aur Ahankar, kya is gathbandhan se badhega Bihar (Crime, corruption and ego, will this combination take Bihar forward?),” asks the party’s poster. Answering this query is the BJP’s own slogan: “Abki Baar, Bhaajpa Sarkaar”, which comes accompanied by images of Modi, the party’s face for the polls.
While the main campaign is being run by party president Amit Shah in secrecy, state-level leaders have launched their own smaller campaigns, each to build a case for himself as the next chief ministerial candidate.
Beside the posters, the BJP has launched a song sung by Manoj Tiwari, a Bhojpuri star and BJP MP from Delhi. It is expected that Tiwari, along with other Bhojpuri singers/performers, will play a crucial role in the campaigning.
The most interesting parts of the song “Ek Baar BJP, Iss Baar BJP” are the first few lines. “Jaat Paat ke upar ki sarkaar chahiye” (We want a government that rises above caste) projects a party that has risen above caste politics. But these claims are belied by the BJP posters that have cropped up all around Bihar, urging people to attend gatherings of castes, such as Teli-Sahus.
The others
The other parties in the picture – the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Lok Janshakti Party and the Jitan Ram Manjhi-led Hindustani Awam Morcha – are running relatively smaller media campaigns. One reason for this might be the fact that these parties have more compact caste bases and they might have decided to work on the ground on what they have instead of wasting money on a campaign that brings them little reward. If the elections are driven by the caste calculus, then this strategy might be the right one for these parties.
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Not that they count for a whole lot. As any perceptive political analyst at any tea shop in Bihar will tell you, the noise of print and digital campaigning is nothing but a sideshow before the state assembly elections later this year. The real battle is taking place somewhere else – in caste alliances, vote consolidation, door-to-door campaigning, and party meetings at various levels.
Still, the proliferation of political hoardings and posters at street corners beg the question: what purpose do they serve? Is it to sway the undecided voters, that is, if there are any in the caste-driven politics of Bihar? Or is it to be seen and heard at many places at the same time?
For some hint, let’s look at the media campaigns of the major parties:
Janata Dal (United)
The first man to launch his election campaign was Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Even before he was formally announced as the chief ministerial candidate of the Janata Dal (United)-Rashtriya Janata Dal alliance, Nitish Kumar had hired Prashant Kishor, the consultant who ran Modi’s successful Lok Sabha campaign, to head his re-election bid. Since then, Kishor and his team of savvy consultants have been churning out an aggressive print and digital campaign.
The green and yellow poster of Nitish Kumar – with three children in the backdrop and the slogan “Phir ek baar Nitish Kumar” – is a nod to the campaign’s focus: the chief minister wants another chance to continue the development work he has carried out in the past 10 years.
One gets the same message from the theme song for Nitish Kumar’s election campaign. Composed by Sneha Khanwalkar (of Gangs of Wasseypur fame) and penned by Rajshekhar (of Tanu Weds Manu fame), it tells the listener: “Bihar me bahar ho, Nitishe Kumar ho” (Let there be spring in Bihar, Let there be Nitish Kumar).
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s media campaign is concentrated on targeting the JD(U)-RJD alliance. “Apradh, Bhrashtachar aur Ahankar, kya is gathbandhan se badhega Bihar (Crime, corruption and ego, will this combination take Bihar forward?),” asks the party’s poster. Answering this query is the BJP’s own slogan: “Abki Baar, Bhaajpa Sarkaar”, which comes accompanied by images of Modi, the party’s face for the polls.
While the main campaign is being run by party president Amit Shah in secrecy, state-level leaders have launched their own smaller campaigns, each to build a case for himself as the next chief ministerial candidate.
Beside the posters, the BJP has launched a song sung by Manoj Tiwari, a Bhojpuri star and BJP MP from Delhi. It is expected that Tiwari, along with other Bhojpuri singers/performers, will play a crucial role in the campaigning.
The most interesting parts of the song “Ek Baar BJP, Iss Baar BJP” are the first few lines. “Jaat Paat ke upar ki sarkaar chahiye” (We want a government that rises above caste) projects a party that has risen above caste politics. But these claims are belied by the BJP posters that have cropped up all around Bihar, urging people to attend gatherings of castes, such as Teli-Sahus.
The others
The other parties in the picture – the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Lok Janshakti Party and the Jitan Ram Manjhi-led Hindustani Awam Morcha – are running relatively smaller media campaigns. One reason for this might be the fact that these parties have more compact caste bases and they might have decided to work on the ground on what they have instead of wasting money on a campaign that brings them little reward. If the elections are driven by the caste calculus, then this strategy might be the right one for these parties.