Political Marketing-final Document

8/12/2019 Political Marketing-final Document

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PROJECT REPORT ON:

POLITICAL MARKETING IN INDIA

SUBMITTED BY:

SUNNY RAMESH. SADNANI

ROLL NO: 98

T.Y.B.M.S

PROJECT GUIDE:

MRS. GARGI HINGORANI

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR THE COURSE OF BACHELOR

MANAGEMENT STUDIES (BMS)

UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI

2011-2012

SMT. MITHIBAI MOTIRAM KUNDNANI COLLEGE OF COMMERCE

& ECONOMICS

BANDRA (W), MUMBAI400 050


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DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this Project Report entitled POLITICAL

MARKETING IN INDIA submitted in the partial fulfilment of the

requirement for BACHELOR OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES (BMS) is

based on secondary data found solely by me in various books, magazines

and websites & assimilated by me in under guidance of Mrs. Gargi

Hingorani.

I affirm that the content in the project is not at all fabricated and true to the

best of my knowledge.

SUNNY RAMESH. SADNANI

T.Y.B.M.S


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CERTIFICATE

I, Mrs. Gargi Hingorani hereby certify that Sunny Ramesh. Sadnani of

Mithibai Motiram Kundnani College of Commerce & Economics studying

in T.Y.B.M.S has completed the project on Political Marketing in Indiain

the academic year 2011-2012.

The information submitted is true and original to the best of my

knowledge.

Project Guide Principal

External Guide


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Geniusmakes its observations in short hand; talent wr ites them out at

length.

Chr istian Nevell Bovee

As I sum up the draft of the study, I appreciatively reminisce the

contribution of all those people whose support and help have made this

report take its present form.

I feel great pleasure to express my deep and sincere feelings of gratitude

towards Prof. Gargi Hingorani for her guidance and support at every step

while completing this project.

It also gives me pleasure to acknowledge the contribution of my teachers

collectively; whose timely insights have helped my report a great deal.


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INDEX

FOREWORD

PREFACE

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

MEANING AND CONCEPT OF POLITICAL MARKETING

Marketing Definition of Political Marketing

VOTERS BEHAVIOUR

SOCIO CULTURAL INFLUENCES

MARKETING MIX

PRODUCT- Poli tical Parti es, Ideology, Market, Branding PRICE PROMOTION-Poli tics & Personal ities, Visual Treats, Road Shows &

Personal I nteractions

PLACEMODEL CODE OF CONDUCT FOR GUIDANCE OF POLITICAL

PARTIES AND CANDIDATES

ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA GENERAL CONDUCT MEETINGS PROCESSIONS POLLING DAY OBSERVERS PARTY IN POWER


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GENERAL ELECTIONS IN INDIA-2009

PRIME MINISTERIAL CANDIDATES UPA NDA LEFT FRONT CAMPAIGNING MEDIA USED- TV, Outdoor Advertisements, Print, Radio, I nternet

MANAGEMENT OF ELECTIONS- A COMPOSITE VIEWPOINT OF

VOTERS, MEDIA PERSONNEL & POLITICAL PARTIES

NEED FOR MANAGEMENT GRAPHICAL INSTANCES

LESSONS & BASIS FOR FUTURE STRATEGIES

SUGGESTIONSBIBLIOGRAPHY


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FOREWORD

We are living in a democratic set up-contributed to, nurtured & sustained by political

parties which unfortunately continue to be blamed for the ills of democracy, due toelectoral compulsions. Electoral compulsions may dictate campaign strategies but

those are based upon a great deal of analytical implications & sound management

practices.

In this ever changing world, electioneering may turn more and more into an exercise in

political management. In case political parties are able to save a fraction of their time,

effort and expenses, it would be a great service to the democracy-notwithstanding the

constant and ever-growing share of politicians for all that is not good in the system.

PREFACE

Elections in India arouse the collective passions in people. Against all odds, democracy

has not only survived in India, it has taken so firm roots that any other form of

Government seems impossible. Indian Electioneering is a cauldron of traditional and

modern, a unique platform for the Godman to gadget man, astrologers to psychologists,

ideological swearing and shedding, minutely measured manifestations of religious

rituals, ward robe parades, parroting of voter praises-are some of the apparently

contradictory, comical & yet very well calculated gimmicks at the serious business of

capturing power.

Political parties continue to deploy techniques which influence the voters behaviour,

these techniques being in the shape of scientific surveys for finding the needs and wants,

for fielding the right candidate, for favourable media reports helpful in promoting the

promises dangled out .

For evaluating the techniques associated with political marketing & their extent, this

study is carried out.


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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Political parties in any democratic setup strive to gain power.

Elections are a means for the same, in the elections political parties make promises and field

candidates who may be able to carry along with them a large section of voters. The promises

and other solemn assurances are wrapped in the ideology of the party, sold to the voters in

attractive slogans.

The electioneering and to some extent governance has taken from all the fields including

marketing. The process political marketinghas now a universally accepted definition of

being the application of marketing principles and procedures in political campaigns by

various individuals and organizations.

The procedures involved include the analysis, development, execution and management

of strategic campaigns by candidates, political parties, governments, lobbyists and

interest groups that seek to drive public opinion, advance their own ideologies, win

elections and pass legislations and referenda in response to the needs and wants of

selected people and groups in a society.

Political parties with the change in times are also trying to assess the needs and wants of the

voters by resorting to market methods of researches.

Political parties offer their political products for satisfying the needs and wants of

the voters, political-products is the sum total of ideologies, leadership issues, popular

promises, containing the perceived needs and wants of the voters.

Every political party goes by the dictum that electoral politi cs is fi rml y rooted in the

in terplay of social forces.

The days of one-party dominance in the Indian political scenario came to an end by the

year 1967 and the voters volatility increased. Reforms which do not benefit the

common man or which are a replica of the outside world may not help the political

parties.

Political parties shed their ideology probably on the drop of a hatand the place specific

requirements are met by suitable modifications in their products without any qualms.

Place is where action actually occurs, political parties apart from being accountable for

any breach of promises, do the constructive work also, parties undertake relief week ,

educational activities, etc.


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The politics of exclusiveness is now giving way to the politics of development warranting

emphasis on good governance. Earlier voting patterns exclusively on the basis of

religion, caste and creed which may have been the need of the kinds has now given way

to the fulfilment of aspirations by way of developmental activities and which fully

manifest the wants of the voters.

Era of coalitions has put it an end to the aspirations of political parties exclusive right to

enjoy the fruits of the power and political parties are trying to cope with the ground

realities by taking recourse to scientific means where the returns may be on the

expected lines.

I ndian poli tical parti es continue to simul taneously deny the existence of pol i tical

marketing and yet leaving no techni que of marketing to ensure handsome rewards in the

elections.


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MEANING AND CONCEPT OF POLITICAL MARKETING

This chapter is about the marketing concepts & their applications in the political arena,

as also discusses Political Marketing under the 4Pswith illustrations form Indian politicalcampaigns.

MARKETING

Marketing is about identifying and meeting human and social needs. One of the shortest good

definitions is meeting needs profitably.The American Marketing Association offers the

following formal definition: Marketing is an organi zational function and a set of process

for creating, commun icating, and deli ver ing value to customers and for managingcustomer relationships in ways that benefi t the organization and i ts stakeholders.

The definition presented above reflects the managerial side of marketing. We can distinguish

between a social and a managerial definition of marketing. A social definition shows the role

marketing plays in society.

Here is a social definition that serves our purpose: Marketing is a societal process by

which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating, offering

and f reely exchanging products and services of value with others.

Aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous. The aim of marketing is to know and

understand the customer so well that the product or service fits him and sells itself.

Nowadays in various democratic countries, political parties have started adopting marketing

concepts and strategies. Political parties try to market persons (contestants),

organizations (their own parties) and ideas (their philosophies).

POLITICAL MARKETING: A DEFINITION

Harrop (1990) perceives political marketing as being not just about political advertising,

party political broadcasts and electoral speeches but covering the whole area of party

positioning in the electoral market.

Cavanaugh (1995, 1996) sees political marketing as electioneering, i.e. as a set of strategies

and tools to trace and study public opinion before and during an election campaign, to

develop campaign communications and to assess their impact.


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Maarek (1995) conceptualises political marketing as a complex process, the outcome of a

more global effort implicating all the factors of the politicians political communication

He considers the introduction of marketing in politics as an outcome of the elaboration of a

policy of poli tical commun ication, a global strategy of design, rationali sation and

conveyance of modern poli tical communication.

As a visual aid for his use of terminology, Maarek (1995), provides the following figure

In Maareks view, political marketing has become an integral and vital component of political

communication. In his words: Political communicationencompasses the entire

marketing process, from preliminary market study to testing and targeting.

O Cass (1996) uses an exchange model to define political marketing. According to him,

when voters cast their votes, a transaction takes place. In return for their votes, the

party/candidate offers better government and policies after election. This way, O Cass

argues that, marketing can be applied to political processes as it is specifically interested

in how these transactions are created, stimulated and valued.


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VOTERS BEHAVIOUR

Voter is the central and the most important figure in any elections, and as has been

pointed out by Campbell, Converse, Miller and Stokes 1960; Roy 1972 and Palmer 1976,elections are the chief institutional mechanism of political recruitment, consensus,

legitimating, participation, mobilization, and communication and thus behaviour of the

voters in the electoral process is very important.

Seth 1975 has suggested that the Indian voter manifests a relatively higher degree of party

identification acceptance of the validity of electoral processes, and he evinced an appreciable

amount of understanding of the general framework of a democratic polity, and some degree

of cognitive awareness of his immediate political surroundings.

Greater political mobilization has resulted in the strengthening of Indian democracy

along with the professionalization of Indian politics.Vora and Palshikar (2004) have

stated that the educated middle class and to some extent the traditional elite, initiated

modern political activity in the form of establishing associations and organizations of

Indians.

Post-independence politics was in many ways a continuation of trends which were set in

the colonial period.Democratic institutions and practices came to be more firmly rooted in

Indian politics in the era of periodical elections based on adult franchise. The constitution

made a provision for reserved seats to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes both in

Parliament and state legislatures.

For most people voting is a habit and party loyalties endure .Moreover, children tend to

inherit their parents and grandparents politics, so that mortality and coming of age

makes less difference than might be supposed. Immigrants too, often move to an area

because their new neighbours are similar people and they quickly adopt their political

habits. The area itself usually stays relatively constant, exposed too much to same

problems, the same mass media and the same leaders in election after election.Alam

(2004) brings out the fact more people in 1996 believed, close to 60 percent, that their

vote had an effect on how things shape up in the country. Twenty-five years earlier in


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1971 only 48 percent thought so. This is an enormous increase in the trust people have

acquired in the potential and power of their vote. This is also reflected in the fact that

for ordinary people the act of franchise has by now become a carnival of democracy, a

celebration of their power.

The voting percentage of OBC, Scheduled Castes, Tribals and Muslims has increased.

In 1996, percentage of illiterate voters to the total eligible illiterate voters was 60.5

percent as compared to 55 percent for the educated voters.

The fall of the V.P.Singh government in1990 symbolize the accentuation of two issues

namely Mandal and Mandir .

According to Mohanty (2004) and Vora and Palshi kar (2004), the emergence of backward

class has been associated with decline of the Congress. With the ri se of BSP in Uttar

Pradesh, support of the Dal its is no longer a certain ty for the Congress.

Kumar (2004) has analysed how the parties and representatives are being evaluated by the

voters. This brings out the volatility of party politics and now the political parties find it

difficult to retain their support base over a long period. The larger issue is the rising

awareness among voters and the inability of political parties to undertake new initiatives.


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B.S.P. LEADER SMT. MAYAWATI DR. V.P SINGH

PROTESTS AGAINST THE MANDAL COMMISSION


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SOCIOCULTURAL INFLUENCES

India is a composite society consisting of various religions and castes.

Until the year 1967, Congr ess party had emerged as the consensual party. Af ter 1967 when

it lost the support of a number of sections, regional pol i tical parti es and other groups

emerged.

By the year 1977, the emergency had un ited all the poli tical parti es and Janta Party

emerged.1984 elections saw the Congress winn ing on the wave, as a resul t of I ndi ra

Gandhis assassination and also on account of Hindu back clash as has been claimed by

Singh and Saxena (1998). The implementation of M andal Commission and agitat ion for

Mandir has resul ted in realignment of M uslim voters who became disenchanted with the

Congr ess. The composite cul ture of the country took a beating and the Congress lost a

major chunk of Muslim votes. According to Lele (2004), three Ms of Indian politics

Market, Mandal and Mandir corr espond to the changing requirements of global and

domestic forces and marginal ization of the Congress in the two biggest states of the

countr y i.e. U.P. and Bihar. Th is coupled with the fact that the Mandalization of I ndian

Electorates has resul ted dalit voters shi fti ng their loyalties to RJD in Bihar and Bahu jan

Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party in U.P. The communali zation of I ndian Electorate and

Mandali zation of I ndian castes has resul ted in a pol iti cal upheaval f or the Congress.

Mohanty (2004) goes on to elaborate the spate of attacks on minorities. A pluralist

democratic society in which minorities are not secure can hardly be described as democratic.

The political parties instead of playing a politics of inclusiveness followed the principal of

exclusiveness and the trend is now being reversed as has been pointed out by Chakrabarty

(2006) that Mayawatis popularity is growing in U.P. as she is trying to integrate Brahmins.

In the early years of democracy after independence, the electorate appeared to be less

volatile but the electorate seemed to vote strongly against whichever government was in

power at the state and national levels (with some exceptions) whether this is called

realignment or volatility the behaviour of the voter has become erratic.


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MARKETING MIX

Fine (1981) has remarked that marketing is often equated with selling, advertising,

packaging, display, promotion, public relations, propaganda and so on; it is erroneous

to say that marketing is any one of these, because marketing is all of them. Themarketing process is incomplete unless all of the functions are performed, functions that

fall under four general headings, product, price, promotion and place, the time

honoured four Ps model.In turn, each of these four Ps subsumes specific functions; the

discussion has been illustrated freely with examples from the Indian election campaigns.

PRODUCT

Political parties solicit votes and each voter after evaluating the various options availablebefore him casts his/her vote. Political parties/independent candidates make various options

available to the voter, these very options are the political productsand generally consist of

the following.

Politi cal Parties

Bhalla (1973) in his treatise Elections in Indiaquoting Walter Bagehot states The House

of Commons li ves in state of potenti al perpetual choice: at any moment it can choose a

ruler and dismiss a ru ler. And therefore party is inherent in it, is bone of i ts bone and

breath of its breath .Political parties, the life line of modern politics, constitute an integral

part of any electoral system, for they organize and educate voters, select candidates for filling

various posts and undertake electioneering on their behalf, formulate legislative programmes

and policies, muster parliamentary majority and from government. Article 19 of the

constitution of India accords a general right to citizens to form associations, the

formation and functioning of political parties in India are beyond the orbit of electoral

law.

I deology

Each political party swears by some or the other ideology i.e. Congress swears by

secularism, BJP projected itself as a well wisher of Hindus previously whereas left

parties go by communism.


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Suroor (2006) has made a comment on the poli tical parti es treating ideology as some kind

of a baggage. He says, increasingl y, ideology is portrayed as something to be despair ed of a

hang-up, and a hindrance to progress in a world in search of quick fi xes.

But pragmatism without a politi cal vision works in the long run. Thus, for expediency

political parties may sacrifice even their ideologies but in the ultimate analysis they have

to fal l back upon whatever their ideology to

(i ) either to consoli date their positi on(ii) or to recover the lost ground(iii) it may bail them out f rom inconvenient questions mostly associated with

all iance making

Market

Political people are not very enthusiastic about the voters being labelled as Market.

Voters in any constituency are a heterogeneous mass of people comprising of men and

women of different age groups, educational background, religions, castes, economic

conditions and having different geographical conditions and requirements. Of this large

heterogeneous segment of people, some people do have allegiance to one or the other

political ideology and this has a bearing on their voting behaviour also.

Political parties field candidates of the majority religion/caste in a particular constituency.

There was a lot of furore over the alleged leakage of Congress partys list of candidates for

Bihar Assembly Polls (November 2005). The list indicated the caste of each candidate

while the Congress party swearing by i ts casteless credentials took the shelter under the

excuse of the list being intended for internal consumption, in any case this is a pointer

towards the deeply entrenched strange hold of caste upon I ndian elections.

Political parties while designing their election campaigns take into account the issues likely

to be raised in the elections and also counter the campaign of its opponents. Feel-good or

Shining India campaigns of NDA were very well countered by Congresss-slogan of

Congress Ka Haath Aaam Admi Ke Saath. Thus, while feel-good type campaign

portrays the general happiness (which definitely cannot be generalized). Congress Ka

Haath Aaam Admi Ke Saath earned more support and appeared more close to an average

voter.


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INDIA SHINING CAMPAIGN BANNERS AND POSTERS

CONGRESS RELEASED BANNERS AGAINST THE INDIA SHINING

CAMPAIGN


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Branding

While every political party has a distinct name, leaders of various political parties

acquire a large picture, than the political outfits they are leading. Vajpayee became a

brand name for NDA in 2004 Lok Sabha elections. I ndian National Congress has an

adjunct I signifying Indira i.e. name of Late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Of late,

elections have stopped to be a contest between political parties and are becoming more

and more a popularity test for the leaders of the political parties and to a large extent

media can be held responsible for the same.

Whil e the 1977 Lok Sabha elections were fought on the plank of anti -I ndi ra sentiments

(I ndi ra Hatao-Loktantar Bachao) by the time elections took place in 1980 Congress party

had been split into two, the one headed by Gandhi carried the suffix I and the 1980

slogan (I ndir a Lao-Desh Bachao) was a forerunner as far as the branding of the

leadershi p is concerned. In the subsequent elections instead of Congress it was the appeal

in the name of I ndira Gandhi (Na Jaat Par Na Paat Par, Indira Ji Ki Baat Par, Mohar

Lagegei Haath Par) which brought votes to the Congress.Brand Indira not only survived

Indiras assassination it became stronger after her death.

After brand Indira it was the turn of NDA to flaunt Atal Bihari Vajpayee as its brand.

Opin ion pol ls before the 2004 Lok Sabha elections projected Vajpayee having a huge lead

over the leader of opposition. I n an era of coali tions a tall leader was required, opined the

media and Vajpayee fulfilled these qualities. NDAs Brand Vajpayee was definitely more

visible dur ing the campaign of 2004, powerfu l than the poli tical party to which he

belonged promoting Sanghvi (H industan Times, 25.4.2004) to question the 2004 Lok

Sabha Elections Really Vajpayees election?. Emergence of such a powerful leader in a

cadre based party l ike BJP has something to do with the era of coali tion and wi th the

trends of modern time. For leading a coali tions successful ly brand Vajpayee became trul y

a powerful brand and when NDA lost Vajpayee talked about penance as elections had been

fought on the name (India Today, 5.7.2004).


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In case of regional political parties, when these were floated, their leaders were well

known names and were charismatic in some sense.

MGR before he spli t fr om DM K was the biggest star of Tami l cinema. Shiv Sena in

Maharashtr a and its leader Bala Saheb Thakre, who is the guide and his phi losophy, is the

phi losophy of the party.

Bhartiya Janta Party claims itself to be a party with difference and this motto was

extrapolated when it was in power at Centre (NDAs major constituent). Running a

coali tion government was sought to be packaged as a distinct USP of NDA in the Lok

Sabha elections of 2004.

Thus, the political product which political parties flaunt during election campaigns consist of

political ideologies supplemented by distinctive economic policies, promises and a candidate

(mostly from majority caste or caste combination) credentials sought to be reinforced by past

track record and the leadership of the leader towering and shadowing even the political party.

Product is packaged in attractive slogans favourably inclined towards a majority of

voters. A political product has everything, which in marketing it ought to have.


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LATE SHRI.M.G. RAMACHANDRAN (FORMER C.M. OF TAMIL NADU AND

FOUNDER OF AIDMK)

BALASAHEB THACKERAY

(FOUNDER & CHIEF OF SHIV SENA)
http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=balasaheb+thakre&um=1&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1311&bih=543&tbs=ic:gray&tbm=isch&tbnid=4kn0ve-kyBcwRM:&imgrefurl=http://www.hindu.com/2005/07/07/stories/2005070706871100.htm&docid=-eY9sn_cI4qZAM&imgurl=http://www.hindu.com/2005/07/07/images/2005070706871101.jpg&w=350&h=269&ei=ikDkTtn2IoHJrQeA1c2YCA&zoom=1http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=shiv+sena&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1311&bih=543&tbm=isch&tbnid=m6692K66ypVDWM:&imgrefurl=http://www.topnews.in/political-reviews/shiv-sena&docid=bJXwEmR2xhg_6M&imgurl=http://www.topnews.in/files/Shiv_Sena.jpg&w=300&h=250&ei=OUHkTpv2BsftrAepi_H2Bw&zoom=1http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=balasaheb+thakre&um=1&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1311&bih=543&tbs=ic:gray&tbm=isch&tbnid=4kn0ve-kyBcwRM:&imgrefurl=http://www.hindu.com/2005/07/07/stories/2005070706871100.htm&docid=-eY9sn_cI4qZAM&imgurl=http://www.hindu.com/2005/07/07/images/2005070706871101.jpg&w=350&h=269&ei=ikDkTtn2IoHJrQeA1c2YCA&zoom=1http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=shiv+sena&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1311&bih=543&tbm=isch&tbnid=m6692K66ypVDWM:&imgrefurl=http://www.topnews.in/political-reviews/shiv-sena&docid=bJXwEmR2xhg_6M&imgurl=http://www.topnews.in/files/Shiv_Sena.jpg&w=300&h=250&ei=OUHkTpv2BsftrAepi_H2Bw&zoom=1http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=balasaheb+thakre&um=1&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1311&bih=543&tbs=ic:gray&tbm=isch&tbnid=4kn0ve-kyBcwRM:&imgrefurl=http://www.hindu.com/2005/07/07/stories/2005070706871100.htm&docid=-eY9sn_cI4qZAM&imgurl=http://www.hindu.com/2005/07/07/images/2005070706871101.jpg&w=350&h=269&ei=ikDkTtn2IoHJrQeA1c2YCA&zoom=1http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=shiv+sena&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1311&bih=543&tbm=isch&tbnid=m6692K66ypVDWM:&imgrefurl=http://www.topnews.in/political-reviews/shiv-sena&docid=bJXwEmR2xhg_6M&imgurl=http://www.topnews.in/files/Shiv_Sena.jpg&w=300&h=250&ei=OUHkTpv2BsftrAepi_H2Bw&zoom=1


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PRICE

Political parties bring out their election agenda in different manners. The most important

political statement made by any political party is to announce its election manifesto. Party

manifesto is a document of a partys intention to fulfil the promises made by it to theelectorate; it may brag about its achievements and may exaggerate the alleged failures

of the opponents. The election campaigns are meant to reach as many electorates through

whatever manner. Political parties spend crores of rupees in reaching out to the

electorates, while the final figures which are spent by the political parties and

candidates may be of tremendous interest, it is the price which a voter pays in

exchange for his vote.Of course, political parties would be well served in case it could be

found out as to how the money spent by them could have yielded better result i.e. optimum

utilization of the amount spent may result in savings to the party and may in the ultimate

analysis mean less and less interference of black money.

Voting behaviour and voting patterns now follow no set formulae. Before making up

ones voting decision every voter is inundated with the information about the

candidates, political parties and issues at the election, the information is further

supplemented by opinion polls, paid advertisements and suggestive editorials .

In short, voter takes trouble of gathering information from as many sources as is possible

before arriving at any decision. Thus, the voter:

(i) Takes the trouble of visiting various rallies-time and efforts are made-traded forvoting i.e. the exchange transaction.

(ii)Gathers information from all conceivable sources time and money is spent onthese.

(iii)Evaluates the performance/promises made by various political parties.

Expectations fulfilled/aroused-wants to reward, if not upto the mark, to vote

against and to teach a lesson. Does not want to be associated with an outfit

discredited, will vote for the one which is projected as honest to avoid the shame

of having voted for a dishonest candidate/party.

(iv)Candidate is from his religion/caste/identifies with the voter. Vote is exchangedfor the sake of identification, which is the price for exchange.

Voter is bribed. Bribe, is the price for the vote exchange.


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NATIONAL ELECTION MANIFESTO OF BJP (2009)

L.K. ADVANI & RAJNATH SINGH AT LAUNCH OF THE ELECTION

MANIFESTO (2009)
http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=national+election+manifesto+of+bjp&um=1&hl=en&biw=1311&bih=543&tbm=isch&tbnid=sQv36_zRg384TM:&imgrefurl=http://blogs.thehindu.com/elections2009/?p=1166&docid=51XtW5VVCiiUcM&imgurl=http://blogs.thehindu.com/elections2009/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/1.jpg&w=318&h=350&ei=rUvkToeQCI3krAeI--nxBw&zoom=1http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=national+election+manifesto+of+bjp&um=1&hl=en&biw=1311&bih=543&tbm=isch&tbnid=1GeosuZnTEnX-M:&imgrefurl=http://win2vin.wordpress.com/2009/04/03/manifesto-of-the-bharatiya-janata-party-bjp-for-the-15th-general-elections-2/&docid=cOVneHT_JItG6M&imgurl=http://win2vin.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/bjp.jpg?w=500&h=731&w=500&h=731&ei=rUvkToeQCI3krAeI--nxBw&zoom=1http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=national+election+manifesto+of+bjp&um=1&hl=en&biw=1311&bih=543&tbm=isch&tbnid=sQv36_zRg384TM:&imgrefurl=http://blogs.thehindu.com/elections2009/?p=1166&docid=51XtW5VVCiiUcM&imgurl=http://blogs.thehindu.com/elections2009/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/1.jpg&w=318&h=350&ei=rUvkToeQCI3krAeI--nxBw&zoom=1http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=national+election+manifesto+of+bjp&um=1&hl=en&biw=1311&bih=543&tbm=isch&tbnid=1GeosuZnTEnX-M:&imgrefurl=http://win2vin.wordpress.com/2009/04/03/manifesto-of-the-bharatiya-janata-party-bjp-for-the-15th-general-elections-2/&docid=cOVneHT_JItG6M&imgurl=http://win2vin.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/bjp.jpg?w=500&h=731&w=500&h=731&ei=rUvkToeQCI3krAeI--nxBw&zoom=1


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VOTERS TURNOUT AT LUCKNOW ASSEMBLY POLLS (2010)

VOTERS CASTING THEIR VOTES ON EVM

FLEX IMAGE AS A PART OF THE JAAGO RE CAMPAIGN


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PROMOTION

Before the election campaign starts formally, Electoral rolls containing the names ofthe eligible voters are published by the election commission and are available for

inspection to the general public. The political parties are procuring a copy of the voter list; do door to door campaign

by issuing slips to the voters indicating the serial number (S.N.) at which his/her

named appears in the list along with the symbol of the candidate.

Once the election schedule is announced, political parties start the process forfinalizing the list of candidates who will be authorized to contest the election on the

party symbol.

The central election committees of the various political parties finalize therecommendations for the ticket from the ones received right from the local unit of

the party through the state unit of the party.

Political parties beforehand do have a fair idea about the suitability of a politicalcandidate. The internal survey of the party and the central representatives of the

party do undertake an extensive exercise based upon various factors of castes (sub-

castes) and caste (s) of the expected main opposition candidate.

Breakup of the voters-caste wise, area wise, gender wise or on the basis of any localfactor i.e. major chunk of population is of displaced persons etc. Who are there in

the constituency etc. is done.

The acceptability of particular candidate to ensure win ability is also assessed.

Political parties do field dummy candidates for denting the vote bank of the

opponent.Since all the ticket aspirantscannot be accommodated, the one who do not

get a ticket may stand against the official candidate and the party may losein such

an eventuality. Although political parties do have a mechanism in place to meet such

situations, it is the internal sabotage which may result in election defeats.


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Selection of candidates, is also influenced by the media reports, the parties do tend to

take public perception in to account, the selection of the candidate political parties name

it differently but each one swears by the democratic norms that the selection process is

turning more and more into an exercise in marketing, the political parties generally act

on or more of these:

(1) Internal survey of the party/ from observers etc.(2)Feedback from the party workers/media reports.(3)Voters profile.

Political parties may not always field candidates for a win; candidates are fielded for

ensuring a defeat of the opponent, for test checking the popularity of the party or

simply to embarrass the opponents by fielding the rejects of opponent party.

The over whelming popular impression about Indian politician is that everyone is there for

meeting ones selfish interest.

Thus, by broadening the selection process-more involvement of common unattached

voter in the feedback process and making the exercise public-could be a small

beginningin:

(i) Making the volunteers believe that everyone has an equal chance of gettingan authorization

(ii) The waning interest of the party volunteers may be checked with theconstituents.

(iii) Political parties can start this exercise as internal marketing for galvanizingthe volunteers.

I n earl y 1991, the Hindu revivali st BJP formally announced that it would bend more often

to electoral compu lsion, whi ch meant choosing some candidates because of their

membership in a locall y in fl uential caste or their access to resources.


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Parties also frequently choose candidates in order to complicate things for their

opponents. This takes two forms.

First they select particularly formidable candidates to confront especially popular or

effective leaders of other parties, in order to pin down them to their constituencies (the

names must be kept even last minute secret).

Examples:

I n 1984, Madhav Rao Scindia was fi elded against Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna I n 1991, Rajesh Khanna, film star fought against L .K.Advani I n 1999, Lok Sabha elections Susma Swaraj chased Sonia Gandhi way down in

south, Bellar i (Karnataka).

Second, they often arrange for people to stand as independents who are from the same

caste or interest groups as rival candidates, in order to split the vote of the groups that

support these opponents.

Parties indulge in candidate promotion much before the elections are announced.

Many prospective candidates make themselves visible by being in constant touch with

the voters/or in the forefront of some agitation / developmental activities.

Sitting candidates while being in constant touch with their voters try to take credit for

developmental works while those in opposition continue to highlight the difficulties of

the voters (constituents) and may clamour for more funds, may agitate on issues of

public importance.

Each one of these activities get reported in the media, a kind of registration takes with

voters. This subtle promotion is a continuous affair. Sometimes at the local level

whatever a sitting member or a prospective candidate had been pursuing, may become

an election issue, either after being included in the party manifesto or either being

constantly pursued by the opponents.

The viewpoints of various candidates find way into media and the viewpoint, and those

which get a favourable media coverage, is in fact a promotion of the party/candidates.


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Political parties may sometimes organize, agitations, dharnas, all these are a kind of

subtle promotional exercises. Political parties also try to commemorate some important

happening which it presumes goes well with the image of the party.

BJP celebrated one year of successful nuclear blasts on 12.5.1999 to arouse nati onal istic

fervour and the party has decided now to organizeVijay Divasto commemorate Indias

victory in Kargi l , the party promotes (tr ies to) or rein forces its nati onal ist agenda, in a way

to coun ter thi s.

These righ t kinds of noises are all a part of promotional strategy.

Promotional eff orts are not always made by the poli tical parti es, Laloo Prasad Yadav after

becoming the Chief M in ister of Bihar in 1990 started staying in the residence of his

brother, a class I V employee in a two room quarter. The anti cs of Yadav were in the pages

of al l the Indian newspapers.

Laloo, later on went on to become a messiah of poor (Star News dated 22.11.2005).

In India election related advertisements started during the 1984 Lok Sabha elections.

Congress-I had commissioned a professional ad agency, Redif fu sion (M itra, 1998), wove a

series of adverti sements around the symbol of the party, hand i.e.give stability a hand,

give peace a hand and give efficiency a hand so on and so forth .

The NDA government at the center before going to the polls started a media bl itz with

I ndia-Shining and Feel-Good advertisements whi le parti es in power do take credit f or the

deeds done during this tenure, the publicity trail is a precursor of the partys emphasis

dur ing the actual election campaign.

L .K.Advani is also reported to have said ( I ndia Today dated 14.2.2005),I have done

several Yatras and I am known as a Rath Yatri but now a days I am known as a

Helicopter Yatri.

It can be argued that taking into account the vast majority of electorate who are illiterate,

advertisements in the print material made little sense.

Doordarshan has a fairly good enough reach and the advertisements in visual media were

supposed to be seen by a large number of people (here too one can question it on the sheer

availability of T.V. sets with the electorate).


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ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE AT VIJAY DIVAS (2002)


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L. K. ADVANI AS RATH YATRI

L. K. ADVANI AS HELICOPTER YATRI


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Poli tics & Personal i ties

Political parties/candidates organize big rallies with a view to reach out to the maximum

number of electorates.

Crowd pullers like cinema personalities are pressed into service, free-transportation,

money and food is provided for the people attending such rallies. Each party tries to

outdo the other.

For attracting crowds, almost all the political parties engage glamorous film

personalities.

I n south Karunanidhi , MGR, Jayalal ita and NTR al l have been famous cell uloid

personalities.

I ndian Parl iament has also seen a galaxy of f ilm stars. BJP which had mobil ized

maximum number of f ilm stars for i ts campaign in Lok Sabha Elections of 2004 and its

spokesman Muktar Naqvi, whi le refuting reports that Shah Rukh Khan wil l be

campaigning f or the party, had said, campaigning by fi lm stars makes the electoral process

non-serious (I ndia Today dated 15.11.2003).

Whi le BJP can boast of Hema Mal in i, Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna, Vajayanti M ala,

Dara Singh, Shatrughan Sinha (all MPs) Suresh Oberoi, Samriti Malhotra, Yukta Mukhi,

Poonam Dhi ll on and host of other T.V. Personali ties, Congress had Suni l Du tt, Di li p

kumar , Govinda, Nagma, Rati Agnihotri , Asrani , Celi na Jaitl ey , Shakti Kapoor, Zeenat

Aman.

Samajwadi Party has Ami tabh Bacchan, Jaya Bacchan, Jaya Prada and Raj Babbar who

has now joined Congress. Samajwadi Party had inducted Sanjay Dutt and Manoj T iwari .

Whether the stars associate themselves with the political parties on account of their

ideology or they charge money for political campaign also, but it is a suspicion, which

prevails.

Al though Poli tical heavy weight and SP, MP Raj Babbar, who was a successfu l actor also,

candidly says, since cine stars get money for advertisements and publi city, hence for

electioneering etc, charging of money is perfectly all r ight and in the same vein (Outl ook

dated 15.4.2004).


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ACTORS TURNED POLITICIANS

M. KARUNANIDHI (DMK) M.G.R. (AIDMK) JAYALALITHA

VINOD KHANNA (BJP) SMRITI IRANI (BJP) SHATRUGHAN (BJP)

SUNIL DUTT (CONG) DILIP KUMAR (CONG) GOVINDA (CONG)
http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=jayalalitha&um=1&hl=en&biw=1311&bih=543&tbm=isch&tbnid=GuPFMqouv8PLPM:&imgrefurl=http://transcurrents.com/tamiliana/archives/category/filmalaya&docid=PvzAqAL6IHLd3M&imgurl=http://www.transcurrents.com/images/Jayalalitha_TC_0223_II.jpg&w=326&h=500&ei=lVnkTrL5JYjYrQe2s8yfCA&zoom=1http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=MGR&um=1&hl=en&biw=1311&bih=543&tbm=isch&tbnid=yRpaRjb8dBnQuM:&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._G._Ramachandran&docid=19OLQSHAvz7DbM&imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/MGR345676aa11_cropped.jpg/220px-MGR345676aa11_cropped.jpg&w=220&h=372&ei=XVnkTsu5HYXSrQfqlv2NCA&zoom=1http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=jayalalitha&um=1&hl=en&biw=1311&bih=543&tbm=isch&tbnid=GuPFMqouv8PLPM:&imgrefurl=http://transcurrents.com/tamiliana/archives/category/filmalaya&docid=PvzAqAL6IHLd3M&imgurl=http://www.transcurrents.com/images/Jayalalitha_TC_0223_II.jpg&w=326&h=500&ei=lVnkTrL5JYjYrQe2s8yfCA&zoom=1http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=MGR&um=1&hl=en&biw=1311&bih=543&tbm=isch&tbnid=yRpaRjb8dBnQuM:&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._G._Ramachandran&docid=19OLQSHAvz7DbM&imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/MGR345676aa11_cropped.jpg/220px-MGR345676aa11_cropped.jpg&w=220&h=372&ei=XVnkTsu5HYXSrQfqlv2NCA&zoom=1http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=jayalalitha&um=1&hl=en&biw=1311&bih=543&tbm=isch&tbnid=GuPFMqouv8PLPM:&imgrefurl=http://transcurrents.com/tamiliana/archives/category/filmalaya&docid=PvzAqAL6IHLd3M&imgurl=http://www.transcurrents.com/images/Jayalalitha_TC_0223_II.jpg&w=326&h=500&ei=lVnkTrL5JYjYrQe2s8yfCA&zoom=1http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=MGR&um=1&hl=en&biw=1311&bih=543&tbm=isch&tbnid=yRpaRjb8dBnQuM:&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._G._Ramachandran&docid=19OLQSHAvz7DbM&imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/MGR345676aa11_cropped.jpg/220px-MGR345676aa11_cropped.jpg&w=220&h=372&ei=XVnkTsu5HYXSrQfqlv2NCA&zoom=1http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=jayalalitha&um=1&hl=en&biw=1311&bih=543&tbm=isch&tbnid=GuPFMqouv8PLPM:&imgrefurl=http://transcurrents.com/tamiliana/archives/category/filmalaya&docid=PvzAqAL6IHLd3M&imgurl=http://www.transcurrents.com/images/Jayalalitha_TC_0223_II.jpg&w=326&h=500&ei=lVnkTrL5JYjYrQe2s8yfCA&zoom=1http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=MGR&um=1&hl=en&biw=1311&bih=543&tbm=isch&tbnid=yRpaRjb8dBnQuM:&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._G._Ramachandran&docid=19OLQSHAvz7DbM&imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/MGR345676aa11_cropped.jpg/220px-MGR345676aa11_cropped.jpg&w=220&h=372&ei=XVnkTsu5HYXSrQfqlv2NCA&zoom=1http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=jayalalitha&um=1&hl=en&biw=1311&bih=543&tbm=isch&tbnid=GuPFMqouv8PLPM:&imgrefurl=http://transcurrents.com/tamiliana/archives/category/filmalaya&docid=PvzAqAL6IHLd3M&imgurl=http://www.transcurrents.com/images/Jayalalitha_TC_0223_II.jpg&w=326&h=500&ei=lVnkTrL5JYjYrQe2s8yfCA&zoom=1http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=MGR&um=1&hl=en&biw=1311&bih=543&tbm=isch&tbnid=yRpaRjb8dBnQuM:&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._G._Ramachandran&docid=19OLQSHAvz7DbM&imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/MGR345676aa11_cropped.jpg/220px-MGR345676aa11_cropped.jpg&w=220&h=372&ei=XVnkTsu5HYXSrQfqlv2NCA&zoom=1http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=jayalalitha&um=1&hl=en&biw=1311&bih=543&tbm=isch&tbnid=GuPFMqouv8PLPM:&imgrefurl=http://transcurrents.com/tamiliana/archives/category/filmalaya&docid=PvzAqAL6IHLd3M&imgurl=http://www.transcurrents.com/images/Jayalalitha_TC_0223_II.jpg&w=326&h=500&ei=lVnkTrL5JYjYrQe2s8yfCA&zoom=1http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=MGR&um=1&hl=en&biw=1311&bih=543&tbm=isch&tbnid=yRpaRjb8dBnQuM:&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._G._Ramachandran&docid=19OLQSHAvz7DbM&imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/MGR345676aa11_cropped.jpg/220px-MGR345676aa11_cropped.jpg&w=220&h=372&ei=XVnkTsu5HYXSrQfqlv2NCA&zoom=1http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=jayalalitha&um=1&hl=en&biw=1311&bih=543&tbm=isch&tbnid=GuPFMqouv8PLPM:&imgrefurl=http://transcurrents.com/tamiliana/archives/category/filmalaya&docid=PvzAqAL6IHLd3M&imgurl=http://www.transcurrents.com/images/Jayalalitha_TC_0223_II.jpg&w=326&h=500&ei=lVnkTrL5JYjYrQe2s8yfCA&zoom=1http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=MGR&um=1&hl=en&biw=1311&bih=543&tbm=isch&tbnid=yRpaRjb8dBnQuM:&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._G._Ramachandran&docid=19OLQSHAvz7DbM&imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/MGR345676aa11_cropped.jpg/220px-MGR345676aa11_cropped.jpg&w=220&h=372&ei=XVnkTsu5HYXSrQfqlv2NCA&zoom=1http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=jayalalitha&um=1&hl=en&biw=1311&bih=543&tbm=isch&tbnid=GuPFMqouv8PLPM:&imgrefurl=http://transcurrents.com/tamiliana/archives/category/filmalaya&docid=PvzAqAL6IHLd3M&imgurl=http://www.transcurrents.com/images/Jayalalitha_TC_0223_II.jpg&w=326&h=500&ei=lVnkTrL5JYjYrQe2s8yfCA&zoom=1http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=MGR&um=1&hl=en&biw=1311&bih=543&tbm=isch&tbnid=yRpaRjb8dBnQuM:&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._G._Ramachandran&docid=19OLQSHAvz7DbM&imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/MGR345676aa11_cropped.jpg/220px-MGR345676aa11_cropped.jpg&w=220&h=372&ei=XVnkTsu5HYXSrQfqlv2NCA&zoom=1http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=jayalalitha&um=1&hl=en&biw=1311&bih=543&tbm=isch&tbnid=GuPFMqouv8PLPM:&imgrefurl=http://transcurrents.com/tamiliana/archives/category/filmalaya&docid=PvzAqAL6IHLd3M&imgurl=http://www.transcurrents.com/images/Jayalalitha_TC_0223_II.jpg&w=326&h=500&ei=lVnkTrL5JYjYrQe2s8yfCA&zoom=1http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=MGR&um=1&hl=en&biw=1311&bih=543&tbm=isch&tbnid=yRpaRjb8dBnQuM:&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._G._Ramachandran&docid=19OLQSHAvz7DbM&imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/MGR345676aa11_cropped.jpg/220px-MGR345676aa11_cropped.jpg&w=220&h=372&ei=XVnkTsu5HYXSrQfqlv2NCA&zoom=1


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JAYAPRADA (S.P.) RAJ BABBAR (S.P.)

AMITABH BACHAN (S.P.) SANJAY DUTT (S.P.)


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Writing on fi lms, stars and poli tics, Sanghvi (2005) narrates an instance of him having

carried out an opinion poll in 1983 in the Imprint about the North Bombay consti tuency

according to him our intention was to see if the sitting MP, Ram Jeth Malani could be

unseated by one of the many actors who l ived in the area, because we wanted to make a big

splash, we pitted Jethmalani against the biggest star of the day, Ami tabh Bacchan.

The poll said, qui te conclusively that Jethmalani would beat any movie star, Amitabh

Bacchan i ncluded. Whi le admitting the incorrectness of the poll he goes on to say that very

next year Amitabh stood from Al lahabad and won by a landslide and Sunil Du tt defeated

Ram Jeth Malani.

According to him, Di li p Kumar campaigned for the Congress in 1977 without much

success.

He further says that the entry of cine stars into politics is devoidof any ideological

content whatsoever. It is no secret that many stars take money to participate in political

campaigns.

Few of them even dont know what the party they belong to stands for. For film stars,

politics is just one more option; like a brand endorsement or a music video and it pays

more.


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Visual T reat

Colourful posters, hoardings, buntings, accompanied by loud music, sloganeering all

lend Indian elections a distinct identity. Technological advances viz. SMS; E-mail

campaigning have not in the least taken away the colour from Indian campaigns.

In fact, earlier election reporting and assessment about the prospectus of various candidates in

the elections tended to make assessments based upon the number of posters, banners,

buntings and the size of the crowd in the rallies.

Beginning with the fi rst ostensible rath yatra onChaitanya Rathwhi ch catapul ted NTR

to power in Andhr a in 1983.

Yatras(l iterall y meaning travels) in decorated vehicles have found favour with the

poli tical parti es. These fu ll y furni shed vehicles fi tted with latest modern day equipments,

arouse the cur iousity of voters (many of whom come only to see these machi nes).

Now the leaders are making use of helicopters, make shift helipadsdouble as the venue

for the meetings also. Leaders who are generally accompanied by some glamorous

personality, land and straight way grab the mike, address and fly to next destination, the

machine and moll (personality) having succeeded in attracting the crowd.

Swabhimaan/Gaurav Yatra of NarindraModi (2002-2003),Vikas/Vishwas Yatra of

Prem Kumar Dhumal (2002-2003), Parivartan Yatra of Vijay Raje Sindhia (2003),

Nayaya Yatra of Devi Lal (1986-1987), and Nayaya Yatra of Nitish Kumar (2005), etc

are all promotional activiti es and each one is meant to persuade the voters for voting in a

particular manner.

Modern modes of communication li ke recorded voice messages viz. (Main Vajpayee Bol

Raha Hun-Lok Sabha 2004) SMS (jokes on the opponents, in formatory like Kya Aap shi ft

Ho gaye hain), E-mai ls (Ki rt Somayas E-mails to Chartered Accoun tants) as brought out

by Rawal (2004) have came into play. Singh.

Ni hal S. Dubbed the 2004 Lok Sabha Elections as a high-tech election and termed it as an

endof traditional ways of campaigning and further brand Vajpayee yielded dramati c

resul ts in the fi rst hi -tech election.


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N.T. RAMARAOS CHAITANYA RATH YATRA(Chai tanya Rathnam-1983)

NARENDRA MODIS SWABHIMAN GAURAV YATRA (2002-2003)

VIJAY RAJE SCINDIAS PARIVARTAN YATRA (2003)


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ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE FLAGGING OFF THE NITISH KUMARS NYAYA

YATRA (2005)

NITISH KUMAR INTERACTING WITH VILLAGERS AND PARTY WOKRERS

DURING HIS Nyaya Yatra.


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Road Shows & Personal I nteraction

A new strategy road show has been added to election lexicon from the elections of 2004.

Instead of bringing the people to the rallies, people are lined up along the route through

which any VIP is then brought.

Late Pramod M ahajan, the BJP General Secretary called it a western concept what so are

many other election related issues.

Road shows are defi ni tely going to be a part of election electioneer ing.

During one of Sonia Gandhis road show, people had been lined on the 370 Kms. Road

show and high decibel slogans li keLachhar Sarkar ab jayegi, lehar Congress ki aayegi

were raised to dispel any feel good factor there and followed it with Gaon-Gaon Main

Uthi Pukar, Sonia Gandhi Bahu Hamar.Road shows Sonia Gandhi votes (India Today

dt: 17/1/05,pg 63).

In the Indian context, door to door and person to person contact have historical

importance, there were no communication channels and candidates & party workers used

to call on individual voters requesting him/her for vote and in the process inflating their ego.

This contact is either through the workers of the party or through prominent persons of

a particular community like the village headman (pradhan).

Party workers perform the role of a salesman to perfectionand the exchange motivation

is akin to personal sale. In fact, if classical concept of marketing is to be found, it is in the

promotion of the political product. Political parties/candidates undertake big public

relationing exercises either to reinforce their images or to change it and for the purpose

they may resort to gimmicks.

A party li ke BJP may court M uslim leaders by holding conventi ons.

I n 2005 Bihar elections, NDA leader N iti sh Kumar visited a number of mosques with the

purpose of countering the charge of aligning with the supposedly anti Muslim BJP and

also to take on Laloo Yadav and Ram Vi las Paswan, who canvassed with a look-ali ke

Osama Bin Laden (I ndia Today 14/2/05).

The report said that Ram Vi las Paswan had enl isted the support of Maulana M eraj Khalid

Noor, as Osama Bin L aden for l iberating Bihar f rom the Laloo Raj.

Th is may appear f ar-fetched but poli tical campaigns using the marketing techn iques may

end up a parall el of cola wars.


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SONIA GANDHIS ROAD SHOWS IN DELHI, RAI BAREILY AND RAJASTHAN

NITISH KUMAR CELEBRATING Eid M ilan(2010)

NITISH KUMAR AT INAUGRATION OF COMPUTER CENTRE IN PATNA FOR

THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY


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PLACE

A national poli tical par ty obviously ought to have a national outlook and is general ly above

the parochial agenda of regional poli tical parties.

Regional political parties on the other hand have their presence confined to a particular stateor regions. Government both at the central and state level are constituted after elections

and to ensure a win in any election, national parties have also to compete with the

regional political party on the ground level.

For competing with the generally strong regional outfits, the state units of the national

political parties take positions which may not be in strict conformity with the position

taken at the national level by the party, of late regional political parties are becoming

more and more powerful and they have gobbled up the space earlier occupied by the

national parties.

Coalition politics has compelled the political parties to align at one place and to compete

with each other at other place.

Communists suppor ted the Congr ess led UPA at the center but are the main opponents in

the states of West Bengal and Kerala.

Some political parties or more appropriately the state units of National Political Parties

take diametrically opposite stand on same issues.

State un its of Congress party on Cauvery water have a dif ferent stands in Karnataka &

Tami l Nadu. These diff erent positions are based upon poli tical in terests.

Now for political parties, to fare well, they have to modify their political product as per

the state.

Political product has to be made place specific. This is akin to having different channels

of the distribution. No national party can afford to take a stand in direct confrontation

to the local sentiments.


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Coali tion compulsions have made poli tical parti es master craf tsmen in abdicating the

ideologies, changing partners and even taking a few body blows. Almost all regional

parti es owe their ori gin to the basic oppositi on of Congress but as of now these regional

poli tical parties are shar ing power with the Congress at center.

Most of the regional political parties have one strongest bond with the voters i.e. sons of the

soil theory, which may be expressed in different phrases viz. Telegu pride of TDP, Mumbai

for Mumbaikars(Shiv-Sena).

Congress plays second fiddle to RJD in Bihar, and to either of the Dravid parties in Tami l

Nadu and equal partner with NCP in M aharashtra.

How this sons of soil dogma operates is clear from one example of Shiv-Senas war cry of

Mumbai for Mumbaikars (Mumbai is for or iginal inhabitants of Mumbai) and the jobs

are only for Maharashtr ians, resul ted in polar ization of non-Mumbai voters towards the

Congress-I and NCP.

Place plays such an important role in product, promotion and price, it becomes clear.

Place is where action actually occurs, political parties apart from being held

accountable for any breach of promises, do the constructive work also, parties

undertake relief week, educational activities, sponsoring some events, each activity

generating some good will for the party.

A model depicting the four Ps for political marketing is placed above, which have been

defined in the foregoing chapter, illustrated with a number of examples from the Indian

election campaigns.


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MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT FOR THE GUIDANCE OF POLITICAL

PARTIES AND CANDIDATES

ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA

In India the elections are conducted by the Election Commission of India which is a

permanent body and has a statutory status.There are 3 election commissioners, who are

appointed by the President of India; oneof the election commissioners (generally the

senior most) is appointed as the Chief Election Commissioner of India..

Their removal from the post can take place only by an impeachment in the Parliament.

It used to be a one man election commission and the same was expanded in

1996Publication of electoral rolls, dispatch of Electronic voting machines to each polling

station, acceptance of nomination papers, rejection etc. and for the purpose deployment

of staff along with adequate security everything is ensuredby the election commission.

Election Commission also ensures adherence to the statutory provisions of various

election laws.Model code of conduct is promulgated by the commission before the

election process is set in motion.

Al though every poli tical par ty swears by the model code of conduct, yet none is having aclean record.


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1. GENERAL CONDUCT

(1) No party or candidate shall include in any activity which may aggravate existing

differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension between different castes and

communities, religious or linguistic.(2) Criticism of other political parties, when made, shall be confined to their policies

and programme, past record and work.

Parties and Candidates shall refrain from criticism of all aspects of private life, not

connected with the public activities of the leaders or workers of other parties. Criticism

of other parties or their workers based on unverified allegations or distortion shall be

avoided.

(3) There shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes. Mosques,

Churches, Temples or other places of worship shall not be used as forum for election

propaganda.

(4) All parties and candidates shall avoid scrupulously all activities which are corrupt

practices and offencesunder the election law, such as bribing of voters, intimidation of

voters, impersonation of voters, canvassing within 100 meters of polling stations,

holding public meetings during the period of 48 hours ending with the hour fixed for the

close of the poll, and the transport and conveyance of voters to and from polling station.

(5)The right of every individual for peaceful and undisturbed home-life shall be

respected, however much the political parties or candidates may resent his political

opinions or activities.

(6) No political party or candidate shall permit its or his followers to make use of any

individuals land, building, compound wall etc., without his permission for erecting

flagstaffs, suspending banners, pasting notices, writing slogans etc.

(7) Political parties and candidates shall ensure that their supporters do not create

obstructions in or break up meetings and processions organised by other parties.

Workers or sympathisers of one political party shall not create disturbances at public

meetings organised by another political party by putting questions orally or in writing

or by distributing leaflets of their own party. Processions shall not be taken out by one

party along places at which meetings are held by another party.

Posters issued by one party shall not be removed by workers of another party.


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II. MEETINGS

(1) The party or candidate shall inform the local police authorities of the venue and time

any proposed meeting well in time so as to enable the police to make necessary

arrangements for controlling traffic and maintaining peace and order.(2) A Party or candidate shall ascertain in advance if there is any restrictive or

prohibitory order in force in the place proposed for the meeting if such orders exist,

they shall be followed strictly.

(3) If permission or license is to be obtained for the use of loudspeakers or any other

facility in connection with any proposed meeting, the party or candidate shall apply to

the 30

authority concerned well in advance and obtain such permission or license.

(4) Organisers of a meeting shall invariably seek the assistance of the police on duty for

dealing with persons disturbing a meeting or otherwise attempting to create disorder.

Organisers themselves shall not take action against such persons

III. PROCESSION

(1) A Party or candidate organizing a procession shall decide before hand the time and

place of the starting of the procession, the route to be followed and the time and place at

which the procession will terminate.

There shall ordinary be on deviation from the programme.

(2) The organisers shall give advance intimation to the local police authorities of the

programme so as to enable the letter to make necessary arrangement.

(3) The organisers shall ascertain if any restrictive orders are in force in the localities

through which the procession has to pass, and shall comply with the restrictions unless

exempted specially by the competent authority.

Any traffic regulations or restrictions shall also be carefully adhered to.

(4) The organisers shall take steps in advance to arrange for passage of the procession

so that there is no block or hindrance to traffic.

If the procession is very long, it shall be organised in segments of suitable lengths, so

that at convenient intervals, especially at points where the procession has to pass road

junctions, the passage of held up traffic could be allowed by stages thus avoiding heavy

traffic congestion.


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(5) Processions shall be so regulated as to keep as much to the right of the road as

possible and the direction and advice of the police on duty shall be strictly complied

with.

(7) The political parties or candidates shall exercise control to the maximum extent

possible in the matter of processionists carrying articles which may be put to misuse by

undesirable elements especially in moments of excitement.

IV. POLLING DAY

All Political parties and candidates shall

(i) Co-operate with the officers on election duty to ensure peaceful and orderly polling

and complete freedom to the voters to exercise their franchise without being subjectedto any annoyance or obstruction.

(ii) Supply to their authorized workers suitable badges or identity cards.

(iii) Agree that the identity slip supplied by them to votershall be on plain (white)

paper and shall not contain any symbol, name of the candidate or the name of the

party;

(iv) Refrain from serving or distributing liquor on polling day and during the forty

eight hours preceding it

(v) Not allow unnecessary crowd to be collected near the camps set up by the political

parties and candidates near the polling booths so as to avoid confrontation and tension

among workers and sympathizers of the parties and the candidate.

(vi) Ensure that the candidates camps shall be simple .Theshall not display any

posters, flags, symbols or any other propaganda material.

No eatable shall be served or crowd allowed at the camps

(vii) Co-operate with the authorities in complying with the restrictions to be imposed on

the plying of vehicles on the polling day and obtain permits for them which should be

displayed prominently on those vehicles.

VI. OBSERVERS

The Election Commission is appointing Observers. If the candidates or their agents

have any specific complaint or problem regarding the conduct of elections they may

bring the same to the notice of the Observer.


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VII. PARTY IN POWER

The party in power whether at the Centre or in the State or States concerned, shall

ensure that no cause is given for any complaint that it has used its official position for

the purposes of its election campaign and in particular(i)

(a) The Ministers shall not combine their official visit with electioneering work and shall

not also make use of official machinery or personnel during the electioneering work.

(b) Government transport including official air-crafts, vehicles, machinery and

personnel shall not be used for furtherance of the interest of the party in power;

(ii) Public places such asmaidansetc., for holding election meetings, and use of helipads

for air-flights in connection with elections shall not be monopolized by itself.

Other parties and candidates shall be allowed the use of such places and facilities on the

same terms and conditions on which they are used by the party in power;

(iii) Rest houses, dark bungalows or other Government accommodation shall not be

monopolized by the party in power or its candidates and such accommodation shall be

allowed to be used by other parties and candidates in a fair manner but no party or

candidate shall use or be allowed to use such accommodation (including premises

appertaining thereto) as a campaign office or for holding any public meeting for the

purposes of election propaganda

(iv) Issue of advertisement at the cost of public exchequer in the newspapers and other

media and his misuse of official mass media during the election period for partisan

coverage of political news and publicity regarding achievements with a view to

furthering the prospects of the party in power shall be scrupulously avoided.

(v) Ministers and other authorities shall not sanction grants/payments out of

discretionary funds from the time elections are announced by the Commission; and

Note: The Commission shall announce the date of any election which shall be a date

ordinarily not more than three weeks prior to the date on which the notification is likely

to be issued in respect of such elections.

(vii) Ministers of Central or State Government shall not enter any polling station or

place of counting except in their capacity as a candidate or voter or authorized agent.


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GENERAL ELECTIONS 2009 IN INDIA

India recently held the general electionsthe largest democratic election in the worldto

the 15th Lok Sabha in five phases on April 16, April 22/23, April 30, May 7 and May 13,

2009. The results of the election were announced on May 16, 2009.

According to the Indian Constitution, elections in India for the Lok Sabha (the lower

house) must be held at least every five years under normal circumstances.

With the last elections held in 2004, the term of the 14th Lok Sabha expired on June 1, 2009.

The election is conducted by the Election Commission of India, which estimates an electorate

of 714 million voters, an increase of 43 million over the 2004 election.

During the budget presented in February 2009, Rs.1,120 Crores (176 million)wasbudgeted for election expenses.

PRIME MINISTERIAL CANDIDATES


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UNITED PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE

Following the August 2008 confidence vote victory for the current government, a statement

by Indian National Congress President Sonia Gandhi had caused speculation that Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh would be projected as the Prime Ministerial candidate in the nextelections. Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar has indicated that he is also a

possible Prime Ministerial candidate post elections.

On January 24, 2009, Manmohan Singh underwent cardiac bypass surgery at All India

Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. Following the surgery, speculation of alternate PM

candidates arose both within the Congress and amongst coalition partners. In an attempt to

quell such speculations, Sonia Gandhi on February 6, 2009, wrote in the Congress party

magazine Sandeshthat Manmohan Singh is the UPA coalition's Prime Ministerial

candidate for the 2009 elections.

NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE

The main opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its coalition partners in the

National Democratic Alliance, announced on December 11, 2007 that their candidate for

Prime Minister would be BJP party leader Lal Krishna Advani, the Leader of the Opposition.

On January 23, 2008, leaders from BJP and other NDA parties convened to officially elect

him their candidate. No other party or alliance had announced a prime ministerial candidate.

THIRD FRONT

A group of regional parties including Communist parties have formed a third front to counter

the BJP-led and Congress led alliances. The members are the Left Front and the United

National Progressive Alliance.

However the CPI (M) had openly said that they are not against bargaining for alliance with

Congress if they get enough number of seats after the election.

Once again, the media had speculated that Mayawati, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh,

could potentially be projected as the front's Prime Ministerial candidate, but no official move

had taken place.

If Mayawati's party could win enough seats, she had openly stated that she would be willing

to take the support of the national parties to become Prime Minister.

No other candidate had publicly expressed interest in becoming Prime Minister.


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PARTIES IN THE UPA ALLIANCE

INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS

NATIONALIST CONGRESS PARTY (MAHARASHTRA)

JHARKHAND VIKAS MORCHA (PRAJATANTRIK)

ALL INDIA TRINAMOOL CONGRESS (WEST BENGAL)

DRAVIDA MUNNETRA KAZHAGAM (TAMIL NADU)

ALL INDIA MAJLIS-E-ITTEHADUL MUSLIMEEN

(HYDERABAD)

INDIAN UNION MUSLIM LEAGUE (KERALA)


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KERALA CONGRESS (M) (KERALA)

SOCIALIST UNITY CENTRE OF INDIA

(COMMUNIST) (WEST BENGAL)

JAMMU & KASHMIR NATIONAL CONFERENCE

(JAMMU & KASHMIR)


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PARTIES IN THE NDA ALLIANCE

BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY

JANATA DAL (UNITED) (BIHAR & KARNATAKA)

NAGALAND PEOPLES FRONT (NAGALAND)

ASOMA GANA PARISHAD (ASSAM)

SHIROMANI AKALI DAL (PUNJAB)

SHIV SENA (MAHARASHTRA)


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TELANGANA RASHTRA SAMITI (A.P.)

UTTARAKHAND KRANTI DAL (UTTARAKHAND)


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PARTIES IN THE LEFT FRONT

WEST BENGAL LEFT FRONT

COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA

(MARXIST)(CPI (M))


REVOLUTIONARY SOCIALIST PARTY

ALL INDIA FORWARD BLOC

WEST BENGAL SOCIALIST PARTY

(NOW SAMAJWADI PARTY)

DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST PARTY


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BIPLOBI BANGLA CONGRESS

REVOLUTIONARY COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA

MARXIST FORWARD BLOC

WORKERS PARTY OF INDIA

TRIPURA LEFT FRONT



(MARXIST)(CPI (M))



ALL INDIA FORWARD BLOC


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KERALA DEMOCRATIC FRONT



(MARXIST)(CPI (M))



JANATA DAL (SECULAR)

NATIONALIST CONGRESS PARTY

KERALA CONGRESS


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CAMPAIGNING

UNITED PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE

The Congress party has bought the rightsfor the Oscar winning soundtrack Jai Hofrom

the movie Slum dog Millionaire and this song will be used as the official campaign tune by

the party. The song titleJai Ho translates to Let there be victory, and the Congress hopes

that this popular song will galvanize the masses during the almost one month long election

season.

On March 24, 2009, Congress President Sonia Gandhi released the party's manifesto for the

2009 election.

The party's slogan for the election is Aam Admi Ke Badthe Kadam, HarKadam Par Bharat

Bulandwhich roughly translates to The common man moves forward, And wi th h is every

step I ndia prospers.

The manifesto highlights all the achievements of the UPA Government over the last 5 years

in power and identifies improving various policies to favour more rural & under-privileged

sections of the Indian society.

In 2004 the Internet accounted for less than 1% of theadvertisin g budget of poli tical

parties. Today however, the digital media makes up at least 10% of the budget,says AtulHegde, Chief Executive, Ignitee India Pvt. Ltd., the agency handling digital advertising

for the Congress.

With 40 million Internet usersand Internet penetration in urban India at around 9%the

importance of digital media in political campaigns cannot be ignored. Add to that the fact that

100 million youngsters, half of whom live in urban India are expected to cast their voters for

the first time in the Lok Sabha polls next Year, and the Internet emerges as very useful tool to

engage with young people.

While they(youth) are involved in pol i tical affair s, they may not be in terested or incl ined

to vote, so these digital in i tiati ves aim at interacting with them and getting the message

out.

Congress has also launched many e-advertisements which appear on most of the popular

sites.

Following a tight pitch against local agency Crayons, Mindshare Delhi snapped the Indian

National Congress (INC) media account estimated to be worth US$15 million.


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NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE

To counter the Congress' selection of Jai Ho as their official anthem, the BJP coined the

phrase Kushal Neta, Nir nayak Sarkaarwhich translates to Able Leader, Decisive

Government. The BJP hope to benefit from the fact that they have been consistentlyprojecting one single leader, Advani, as the party's Prime Ministerial candidate for more

than 1 year, while the Congress appears to have dual power centres (party President

Sonia Gandhi and incumbent Prime Minister Manmohan Singh).

The BJP intends to use Advani's name & imageas the main focus in these elections.

BJP also launched parody ofJai ho. It is shown in the media as Bhay ho.

On April 3, 2009, BJP released its election manifesto in New Delhi.

The party took on the incumbent UPA Government on the 3 fronts of Good

Governance, Development and Security.

The manifesto highlights all the different NDA policies that the UPA reversed over the

last 5 years. The manifesto lays a lot of importance on requiring strong, POTA-like

anti-terrorism laws and vows to make India a safer place if the BJP is elected.

Having taken on Congress's somewhat triumphalism "Jai ho" campaign through its "Bhay ho"

parody, BJP was looking to marshal statistics and visuals to argue that development

projects have slowed down, farm distress is unmitigated and threat of terrorism

undiminished. BJP will question UPA initiatives like the farm loan waiver which it says

is hardly being referred to by the government itself.

The BJP has tracked US President-elect Barack Obamassuccessful online campaign-

social networking sites such as Facebook, Orkut and MySpace have communities built

around the two parties and individual politicians.

The BJP had launched a website for its prime ministerial candidate L.K Advani.It had

one, too, for V.K Malhotra, its chief ministerial candidate for Delhi.

The attempt to reach voters who usuall y do not tur n up at poll ing booths is dri ven by an

estimate that many of themmight share BJPs vision for a strong Centre and a

" nationali st" approach to securi ty that includes " hard" views on anti-terr or laws and

il legal inf il tration. These groups could motivate people to shed both their cyni cism and

lethargy to actuall y go to the poll ing stations.


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BJP managers claimed that with close to half the voting population connected by mobiles,

this campaign was a must. They agreed that the party was looking forward to a sustained

effort by Sanghorganisations to reach and motive both the faithful and sympathisers.

The BJP's print campaign focussed on spelling out its programme which was replete with

feel-good offers like targeted schemes for girl children, cheap food grain, lower farm loan

rates and several sops for the urban voter.

Frank Simoes has taken care of the television and print campaign that also includes

outdoor media and Utopia was in charge of the radio campaign. Two companies, Frank

Simoes and Utopia, prepared the campaign advertisements for BJP which were used on

television, FM radio channels and the print media from March 16 onward.

BJPs creative and the media buying duties were handled byFrank Simoes, which also

has the ministry of tourism as a client. The agency took care of its print and television

campaign.

The party started its sign-off campaign with the punch-line Mazboot neta, ni rnayak sarkar

(Determined Leader, Decisive Government)from March 16.

The party had submitted Rs 42-44 crore budgetfor the campaign with the election

commission of India.

Considering the budget constrains, the party planned to go big on internet and radio. It is not

possible to ignore television and print medium even though they are expensive.

However, we will focus on other media such as internet and radio this time, party

spokesperson said.

The party has tied up with Google to redesign its official website bjp.org to make it

more user-friendly and interactive.

The party has also run its campaign on radio, through private FM channels and All India

Radio because about 288 constituencies today have access to FMwhich is all the more

reason to use the medium extensively.

It has huge penetration and is not too expensive too.

Political parties are required to report to the EC their expenditure since there are

restrictions on it. Besides, a lot of spending is in the form of direct help from

businessmen that may be in cash or kind and is not included in the figures sent to the

commission, which regulates political parties in the country.


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MEDIA USED

During the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, many conventional and non-conventional media were

used by various political parties. The biggest difference in recent and past elections is that all

the parties hired their consultant ad agencies, planned a framework and laid aggressive adcampaigns.

With political advertising crossing over Rs 600 crore in ad spends in 2009 alone, all

kinds of advertising agencies, big and small, shoved and pushed for a slice of the pie.

Let us discuss all those media types and their advantages.

TELEVISION

Only 15% of the total campaign budgets are spent on TV ads because Advertising

experts believe it is because TV does not give political parties enough bang for the buck.

A 10 second spot can sell for anywhere between Rs. 5,000 on a regional language

channel to at least Rs. 1.5 lakh on a popular channel during prime time,say media

buyers, while other platforms such as radio and outdoor are as effective and cheaper.

Voter banks are not in big cities but in rural areas whereposters, meetings and mobil e

vans reach out to more potenti al voters than a TV ad which costs 10 times theamount,

says Sumira Roy, founder of Mumbai-based advertising agency Postscript. And spending somuch on a political campaign like the BJP did with the India Shining campaign last elections,

can actually backfire and work against the party.

At a time when Indian advertising has become so creative andhas set standards

internationally, the quality of political campaigns on TV remains poor and reflects badly on

the industry, says a senior advertising agency executive whodidn't want to be named.

Adds Emmanuel Upputuru, National Creative Director, Publicis India, Earlier, political ads

on TV looked li ke an A/V (audio-visual ), so at least now they look l ike an advertisement as

the production ha

Documents

Political Marketing-final Document