Election celebrations across the country, but mourning in Sadar Bazaar, demand for campaign material sluggish, traders frustrated
पूरे देश में चुनाव का जश्न, मगर सदर बाजार में मातम, प्रचार सामग्री की मांग सुस्त, व्यापारी हताश
The country’s biggest election season has started, but traders in Sadar Bazaar, the main wholesale market of North Delhi, say that till now the demand for election campaign material is very low. However, he is hopeful that the demand for election campaign material will pick up in the coming weeks.
The famous Sadar Bazaar, known for selling all kinds of election paraphernalia ranging from T-shirts with slogans to flags, scarves and wristbands bearing party symbols and images of top leaders, looks like a pale shadow of the past, when democracy’s greatest During festival elections it was filled with buyers.
Mohammed Fazil of Zain Enterprises said he has been in the election goods business for four decades. But this time the sales are the lowest. Due to lack of purchase, he has election campaign material worth about Rs 50 lakh lying with him. Fazil said, “This time there is no demand from any party. It seems Congress is facing shortage of funds, with AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal behind bars.
He further said that BJP is the only party which has some demand from its side and it itself is providing campaign material to its candidates. This is Fazil’s seventh Lok Sabha election selling election goods, but the 62-year-old businessman says he plans to shift to a different business next year.
In a spacious air-conditioned showroom a stone’s throw from Fazil’s pint-sized store, Saurabh Gupta, owner of Anil Bhai Rakhiwala, sits next to two life-size cardboard cutouts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Gupta says the “slow pace” of sales this time could be due to the two-month long election period.
Lok Sabha elections will be held in seven phases, the first phase of elections will be held on April 19 and the last phase of elections will be held on June 1. Gupta said, “This time the election time is longer, so the demand is a little slow. Now, the first phase is coming closer, so I think the demand will increase.” Gupta, whose family has been in the election goods business since the 1980s, said, ”It can be said that the demand so far has been higher than during the last Lok Sabha elections. Or has been really slow compared to other elections.”
Gupta says, BJP shirts and caps with the slogan ‘Ab Ki Baar 400 Paar’ are the most in demand, Congress flags are second and AAP’s merchandise, especially after Kejriwal’s arrest, is nowhere to be found. He said, “There is more demand for those items which have the Prime Minister’s face on them. For example, for BJP, Modi’s face should be on every item. For Congress, some people demand Rahul Gandhi’s picture and some only take the party symbol.
The price of badges and flags, traditionally the best-selling items during the election season, ranges from Rs 1.50 to Rs 50 and even Rs 100, depending on the quality and size. Most of the promotional material is sourced from Mumbai as well as Surat and Ahmedabad in Gujarat.
While some blame the digitalisation of election campaigns focusing on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the low demand for election goods. Others believe that the reason behind the low sales is ‘lack of funds’ in the election campaign by the opposition parties. Gupta said, “BJP started the campaign on time. But in Congress, due to money problem or any other reason, the campaign started a little late…it took them a lot of time.
Harpreet Singh of GV Traders, a veteran of election merchandise, says he had already anticipated a “poor performance” and decided to stay away from the business this Lok Sabha election. He said, “Five years ago, in the year 2019, it was a kind of festival for us, we could earn extra money. But this time I also talked to my fellow friends and shopkeepers, they all are very disappointed, and this is not only in Delhi but all over India. He said, “This time there is no demand for any publicity material or flags at all.”
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