War of videos intensifies as Chandigarh MC poll campaign enters its last phase

From the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) delivering a personalised message from Arvind Kejriwal to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) encapsulating its ‘achievements’ of six years in a one-minute video and the Congress ‘highlighting’ the BJP’s failures during its regime, a war of videos has started as the Chandigarh municipal poll campaign enters its last week.

These videos are being shared on different social media platforms, but it is the WhatsApp and Telegram on which the parties are using the ‘groups’ to reach out to as many people as possible.

The party workers are being encouraged to form these groups and share content while Chandigarh residents are being encouraged to join these. Candidates and parties are also sharing messages directly with the people of city.

The videos are generally less than one minute with infographics and catchy background music.

Though the parties are sharing same kind of media to amplify their campaign messages, their strategy and focus differ largely.

AAP’s Delhi model

For the AAP contesting its first MC election in Chandigarh, the focus is on its ‘Delhi Model’ and Kejriwal as its main icon.

“Hello haanji namashkar ji, main Arvind Kejriwal bol raha hoon…” is how the pre-recorded video message from the AAP supremo starts as he seeks votes from Chandigarh residents. Referring to the city slipping in Swachh Survekshan rankings, Kejriwal goes on to assure in the video that the party will once again make Chandigarh the ‘City Beautiful’ and ‘free of corruption’.

In its video messages, the AAP is also focusing on the ‘guarantees’ it is promising to the voters. “We are also highlighting the failures of both the BJP and the Congress in the last 25 years of their rule. With the campaign being run in the background of the Covid pandemic, the party is using these videos extensively across different platforms,” said Prem Garg, Chandigarh AAP convener.

The AAP is also encouraging its candidates to share their individual videos, though the focus on the ‘Delhi Model’ remains there too.

BJP drums up its achievements

BJP’s video begins with “Chandigarh BJP sarkar ke kaam sirf 60 second mein, aankh na jhapakna…” and goes on to list more than 60 development works completed by the party in the last six years of its MC rule. Other BJP videos take sector-wise approach and describe what the party has achieved in these areas in terms of education, senior citizen welfare, health and infrastructure.

“Development is the main poll plank for the party in the MC elections. So, it is now about our achievements in the videos, and nearer to election day we will share our vision for the Chandigarh’s future. We are getting tremendous response from residents,” said Arun Sood, BJP’s Chandigarh state president.

In addition to Chandigarh BJP’s Twitter and Facebook handles, party workers are also sharing these videos on WhatsApp and Telegram groups. Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher, with more than 4.2 lakh followers, is also actively sharing videos on her Twitter account.

Congress’ street plays

The Congress campaign videos primarily highlight the ‘failures’ of the BJP in the last six years. Also, some show how the city ‘gained’ during the 15-year rule of Congress.

Party’s city chief Subhash Chawla also regularly shares his videos in attempt to brief the electorates and give response to the rival parties on different issues.

But with the AAP and the BJP having a head start over the Congress in terms of campaign videos, the party has now introduced street plays (nukkad nataks) as a campaign tool.

The theme though remains the same: ‘Failures of BJP in last six years’.

Volunteers of the party from Punjab and Chandigarh have been roped in to highlight the problems faced by the residents of the city. City slipping in swachh rankings, Dadumajra garbage dump, taxes, and inflation are some of the common themes.