‘Kartavya Kaal’ versus ‘Mohabbat ki Dukan’: The dynamics of election campaigns and slogans

Vibha Sharma

Chandigarh, July 11

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently said the next 25 years of India’s Independence would now be known as the “Kartvya Kaal”the era of duty. “India is giving top priority to its ‘kartavya’. The next 25 years of Independence are going to be our ‘Kartavya Kaal’. Moving forward, towards the goal of 100 years of independence, we have named our ‘Amrit Kaal’ as ‘Kartavya Kaal,” PM Modi was quoted as saying.

Used liberally and frequently by the BJP leaders and ministers, including in Union Budget speeches, the term ‘Amrit Kaal’ was first used by PM Modi in the 75th Independence Day celebrations when he unveiled a new roadmap for the country for the next 25 years.

PM Modi said the purpose of ‘Amrit Kaal’ was to improve the lives of the citizens, lessen the divide in development between villages and cities, reduce the government’s interference in people’s lives and welcome the latest technology.

“Starting from here, the journey of the next 25 years is the ‘Amrit Kaal’ of a new India. The fulfillment of our resolutions in this ‘Amrit Kaal’ will take us till 100 years of independence,” he said.

So why was ‘Amrit Kaal’ changed?

Apparently, given the current situation with Manipur riots, employment prospects, price rise, etc, observers believe the phrase ‘Amrit Kaal’ had started giving the vibes/signals that it was not working, even being made fun ofsomething on the lines of the failed ‘India Shining’ campaign launched by BJP’s first Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee ahead of 2004 elections campaign.

Even though many believe that ‘India Shining’ was a good catch line, the flashy advertisement blitzkrieg around it failed to deliver because it “did not reflect reality at that time”.

Observers, in fact, term the ‘India Shining’ campaign as “one of the worst political advertisement strategies” in Indian political history and attribute it to be among the reasons for the failure of the then NDA government to return to power at the Centre.

‘India Shining’ versus ‘Bharat Nirman’

While ‘India Shining’ focused largely on the urban growth story, and neglected rural distress and backwardness, perhaps learning from Vajpayee’s experience, the2009 ‘Bharat Nirman’ campaign launched by the then UPA government was more successful.

The ‘Bharat Nirman” campaign focused on and beyond urban India, focusing on successes in the rural sector, say observers. Hitting a chord with voters, ‘Bharat Nirman’ succeeded in voter connect whereas “India Shining’ failed. However, many times Congress too failed miserably like the ‘Chowkidaar Chor’ campaign ahead of the 2019 general elections.

As far as PM Modi is concerned, he has had a dream run in his election campaigns since 2014.

Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Mohabbat ki Dukan’

Though the BJP has regularly used the phrase ‘Mohabbat ki Dukan’ to target Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi, the slogan highlighting the difference in ideologies of the two parties seem to be having a recall value, the USP of any good campaign.

As far as its electoral impact is concerned, only time will tell.

Observers say the success of a campaign is in its recall value and connection with the people.

The fact that BJP president JP Nadda himself used the phrase to launch a blistering attack on Rahul Gandhi shows that somewhere saffron strategists may be concerned.

According to Nadda, the former Congress president was not running any “shop of love” but has opened a “mega shopping mall of hatred”‘nafrat ka mega shopping mall’.

“On one hand, he (Rahul Gandhi) raises questions on the surgical strike, talks about dividing Hindu-Muslim and on the other hand he says that he is running ‘Mohabbat ki Dukaan’ (shop of love)…. You are not running any ‘Mohabbat ki Dukaan,’ you have opened ‘nafrat ka mega shopping mall’,” Nadda alleged.

Asking for the location of his ‘Mohabbat ki Dukaan’, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra used it again to slam Gandhi in reference to the Bengal poll violence, “Where is your ‘Mobahhat ki Dukaan’ when your own party workers are being killed in Bengal? Or is this ‘dukaan’ meant only for BJP ruled states?” Patra said, adding that Gandhi’s sole objective was to attain power at the centre “by hook or crook.”

Electoral campaigns–The relevance

The Congress has been holding programmes named ‘Mohabbat ki Dukan’ to interact with people and discuss their issues.

Observers say across the world political parties colour/decorate the words to build brands and spread messages regarding their ideology and public works with the objective of winning more votes.

Successful slogans/campaigns help a party build, connect and set the public mood in favour. If well-received, they canbecome an effective favourable political tool, and if not the same instrument also has the power to backfire.