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Delhi campaign: Flash mobs, magic shows, street plays regale voters
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By Shilpa Raina and Shweta Sharma New Delhi, Feb 4
The Delhi assembly poll
campaign has been one of the most boisterous and keenly fought with
political parties resorting to new and innovative methods of campaigning
with magic shows, street-corner plays, flash mobs and music mehfils to
share their vision and promises.
"Singing songs while walking for
campaigning helps us in connecting with the masses because it directly
strikes a chord," Nandan Mishra, an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) volunteer,
told IANS.
Mishra, an IIT-Kanpur alumnus and former bank
employee, heads the "Play For Change" campaign under which a group of
artistes carry musical instruments and distribute pamphlets, outlining
the party's policies, among the crowds.
"We play songs like
'Vande Matram' and 'Har Karam Apna Karenge' and while doing this we are
on the move. This helps us in maintaining an eye-to-eye contact with the
people. It is more of an emotional connect we form with them," he said,
adding the party doesn't believe in preaching.
While AAP is
attempting to strike a musical chord with the people, the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) is taking the traditional route with 'nukkad natak',
or street-corner plays, and magic shows.
"We have been very
active on the field since Jan 29 and have been organising 7-8 shows
daily across the city. On the one hand, we are reaching out to the
illiterate
people via magic shows and on the other we are talking
about the good work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi through street
plays," coordinator Lokesh Sharma told IANS.
However, the
Congress doesn't believe in a pompous campaign drill, relying instead on
the background and comprehensive surveys to chalk out a suitable plan
for individual candidates.
"Apart from the rallies and day-to-day
meetings with the people, our candidates hire a promotion agency that
goes out on the field and tries to learn about the voters' woes and
submits a report. Based on this, the candidate formulates his action
plan," a Congress spokesperson, who refused to be identified, told IANS.
"We
also install LED screen at some unauthorised colonies which project the
area candidates' mission and vision for their constituencies," he
added.
Going a step forward AAP, whose major chunk of support
comes from the working class, is also trying to establish a connect with
the "elite".
"Flash mobs are a great way to connect with people
in malls and posh localities like south and central Delhi," Anand Raj
Singh, who organises flash mobs for AAP, told IANS.
"We dance on
energetic and patriotic numbers like 'Ummedon Wali Dhoop', 'Jai Ho' and
others and then we give a small speech elaborating on the blueprint of
the party's policies," said Anand Raj Singh, who has been organising
flash mobs since Dec 25.
For voters, such campaign strategies remain in their minds and help them make an informed decision.
"Rallies
have become a ground for politicians to attack each other in public.
But flash mobs and street plays focus on the plaguing issues while also
outlining their
answer to such problems. This is why such measures connect with us (voters)," said Aakash Sarin, a businessman from east Delhi.
(Shilpa Raina can be contacted at [email protected]. Shweta Sharma can be contacted at [email protected])