Election Time And Akhilesh Das Posters Greet People On Holi

The application of model code of conduct may have been a deterring factor for political parties to deface public places by sticking banners and posters. But Holi has given BSP candidate from Lucknow, Akhilesh Das all the reasons to smile -- no guesses -- right through the movie posters wishing people 'a very happy holi'.

Not too big, the posters besides having a splash of colours and a message, 'Holi Ke Shubh Avsar Par Rang Bhari Shubh Kamnayein' also carries a picture of Das and somewhat a bigger one of chief minister Mayawati. One would not fumble to notice a small elephant -- BSP's election manifesto -- placed in the middle. It all gets finally complete with a 'caption': Akhilesh Das, former Lucknow mayor, former union minister and now a BSP Lok Sabha candidate from Lucknow. Interestingly, the poster does not carry the name of the printer.

Das, however, disowned these posters. "Where are they"? he asked when contacted by TOI. "We have taken care that no violation of model code of conduct happens," he clarified.

His associates, however, said that some of his posters wishing people on the occasion of Holi had been put up in some places. Das, inarguably trying to become a poster boy of the BSP, happens to have an army of associates working at the ground level to increase the visibility of their 'boss' before the 'E-Day' arrives.

The said posters, said one of his associates, had come up on private properties only. And that too with the consent of the property owners. UP, notably, does not a specific law for defacement of public/private properties. Even though the election code of conduct strictly bans on sticking of posters on public property.

So, this has given the BSP candidate and his supporters a good enough 'opportunity' to deface a 'private' property in the name of getting elected to the Lok Sabha.

Das is known for his greetings. In the past, he has been putting up hoarding greeting people on almost all occasions -- from Diwali to Eid to Durga Puja to New Year, and now Holi. The ambitious former mayor, doesn't work from the hoarding only. Last year, he had sent 'gulal' and aniseed packaged in boxes with his picture on top. Likewise, denizens gaped in surprise in Diwali when they found Das's associates knocking their doors and handing them a stainless steel plate having sweets and idols of Ganesh-Laxmi.

March 11, 2009