New Delhi, As the country's biggest election season has begun, traders at Sadar Bazaar, a major wholesale market in north Delhi, say demand for election goods is low so far and are expected to pick up in the coming weeks.
Known for selling all kinds of election paraphernalia, from T-shirts with slogans to flags, scarves and wristbands bearing party symbols and images of leaders, this famous market looks like a pale shadow of the past when it is bustling with buyers during elections. Was full. The biggest festival of democracy.
Sitting amid a pile of unsold pole goods worth about Rs 50 lakh, Mohammad Fazil of Zain Enterprises said his sales are the lowest in four decades of running the business.
"This time there is no demand from any party. It seems Congress is facing shortage of funds, AAP's Arvind Kejriwal is behind bars and BJP, the only party which has some demand, She herself is providing them promotional material.“Candidate,” said Fazil, clearly distressed.
This is his seventh Lok Sabha election selling election goods, but the 62-year-old says he plans to shift to a different business next year.
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 in a huge air-conditioned showroom.
Gupta says the "slow pace" of sales this time could be due to the two-month election period.
Lok Sabha elections will be held in seven phases, the first phase of elections will be held on 19 April and the last phase of elections will be held on 1 June."This time the election period is longer, so the demand is a bit slow. Now, the first phase is approaching, so I think the demand will increase."
Gupta, whose family has been in the election merchandise business since the 1980s, said, "It can be said that the demand so far has been really slow compared to the last Lok Sabha elections or other elections."
There is a competition for space in most of these shops with flags and other campaign material of all the major political parties – resembling an election battle outside.
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, is nowhere in demand.He said, "The demand is more for those items which have Modi ji's face on them. Like, for BJP every item should have Modi's face on it. For Congress, some people demand Rahul Gandhi's picture and some only for the party." Let's take the symbol of.
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 digitization of election campaigns with a focus on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the low demand for election goods, others believe that campaigning by opposition parties is due to "lack of funds". " And "delay" was the reason. Behind the low sales.
He said, “BJP started the campaign on time. But in Congress, due to money problem or some other reason, the campaign started a little late...it took them a lot of time.
“For example, they recently came up with the tagline ‘Haath Badlega Halat’, but now there is no demand for their merchandise in the market,” Gupta said.
Harpreet Singh of GV Traders, a veteran of election merchandise sales, says he had already anticipated a "poor performance" and decided not to participate in this Lok Sabha election.“Five years ago, in 2019, it was a kind of festival for us, we could earn extra money. But this time I spoke to my fellow friends and shopkeepers too, everyone is very disappointed, and it is not only in Delhi , but all over India.
He said, "This time there is no demand for any publicity material, flags."
Known for selling all kinds of election paraphernalia, from T-shirts with slogans to flags, scarves and wristbands bearing party symbols and images of leaders, this famous market looks like a pale shadow of the past when it is bustling with buyers during elections. Was full. The biggest festival of democracy.
Sitting amid a pile of unsold pole goods worth about Rs 50 lakh, Mohammad Fazil of Zain Enterprises said his sales are the lowest in four decades of running the business.
"This time there is no demand from any party. It seems Congress is facing shortage of funds, AAP's Arvind Kejriwal is behind bars and BJP, the only party which has some demand, She herself is providing them promotional material.“Candidate,” said Fazil, clearly distressed.
This is his seventh Lok Sabha election selling election goods, but the 62-year-old says he plans to shift to a different business next year.
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 in a huge air-conditioned showroom.
Gupta says the "slow pace" of sales this time could be due to the two-month election period.
Lok Sabha elections will be held in seven phases, the first phase of elections will be held on 19 April and the last phase of elections will be held on 1 June."This time the election period is longer, so the demand is a bit slow. Now, the first phase is approaching, so I think the demand will increase."
Gupta, whose family has been in the election merchandise business since the 1980s, said, "It can be said that the demand so far has been really slow compared to the last Lok Sabha elections or other elections."
There is a competition for space in most of these shops with flags and other campaign material of all the major political parties – resembling an election battle outside.
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, is nowhere in demand.He said, "The demand is more for those items which have Modi ji's face on them. Like, for BJP every item should have Modi's face on it. For Congress, some people demand Rahul Gandhi's picture and some only for the party." Let's take the symbol of.
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 digitization of election campaigns with a focus on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the low demand for election goods, others believe that campaigning by opposition parties is due to "lack of funds". " And "delay" was the reason. Behind the low sales.
He said, “BJP started the campaign on time. But in Congress, due to money problem or some other reason, the campaign started a little late...it took them a lot of time.
“For example, they recently came up with the tagline ‘Haath Badlega Halat’, but now there is no demand for their merchandise in the market,” Gupta said.
Harpreet Singh of GV Traders, a veteran of election merchandise sales, says he had already anticipated a "poor performance" and decided not to participate in this Lok Sabha election.“Five years ago, in 2019, it was a kind of festival for us, we could earn extra money. But this time I spoke to my fellow friends and shopkeepers too, everyone is very disappointed, and it is not only in Delhi , but all over India.
He said, "This time there is no demand for any publicity material, flags."
