Smart ways to woo city voters

Parties tried innovative tactics to grab attention this election season

Even as curtains come down on the Delhi Assembly elections, the campaigning styles of political parties this time will be remembered for extensive use of technology and innovation in wooing voters.

Parties did not shy away from copying each other’s campaigning styles even as they tried to give it their own spin to convey distinctness.

Brought into the trend by the Aam Aadmi Party, the Gandhi cap has been adopted even by the Congress this time, albeit in a different colour.

BJP members were seen wearing the orange and green topis even during the last Lok Sabha polls, but this time, there were clear instructions that every party worker must necessarily don the topi during rallies.

The tedious visits to voters’ doorsteps were adopted by candidates across party lines, but the political parties did not leave it at that.

AAP led in tactics
The AAP led the way in tactical campaigning by initiating political discussions amidst small gatherings.

Be it in Delhi-bound trains or the Metro, their volunteers went about talking with people for voting for the party.

BJP youths, meanwhile, waited for voters with pamphlets outside Metro stations. The two parties also tried to outdo each other in making their presence felt on busy roads.

With party caps on their heads and holding placards, small groups greeted commuters with folded hands and smiles on their faces.

While much of these techniques focused on their own achievements, the parties used other methods to criticise their opponents.

A few of these involved attacks by faceless opponents. In one such case, labourers were strategically placed at traffic intersections with placards around their necks asking commuters not to take a U-turn.

A muffler man’s picture without a face or name on the placard only made it obvious that Arvind Kejriwal was being referred to.

In another case, voters got recorded phone calls from unclaimed sources telling them that Kiran Bedi had joined a party that “does not respect women”.

No party took responsibility for either of these two campaigns. Parties did not hesitate to launch bitter and direct attacks on each other. The BJP regularly targeted its main rival AAP through newspaper and television advertisements.

Radio stations carried short ads from both the parties, one after the other. On Twitter, radio listeners actually heaved a sigh of relief when campaigning ended as there would be “more songs and few electoral ads”.

The BJP also made optimum use of the web platform. YouTube videos were often preceded by BJP’s ads which also were found on offline mobile phone applications.

Candidates, particularly from Congress, used the recorded calls, WhatsApp and SMSes to draw voters during rallies.

During the last phase of the campaigning, AAP also reached out to voters through phone calls and messages to inform them of favourable opinion polls.

The parties did not rely solely on their Delhi cadres. The BJP and Congress summoned hundreds of volunteers from other states.

Those AAP volunteers who could not make it to Delhi were roped in to make phone calls to voters and convince them to choose the party.

But the real crowd pullers remained the roadshows and star campaigners. BJP got dozens of senior national-level leaders to campaign with Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself addressing five rallies.