Think Cong, BJP same after hearing rallies? Now, look at the hoardings

The

and the

are in the middle of an intense campaign battle for the ongoing assembly polls and the big war of 2014. The two sides have been launching scathing attacks against each other at various rallies, be it for the ongoing assembly polls or the Lok Sabha polls next year. The language aired and the content of the speeches are more or less same and frankly, people are feeling the verbal fight turning out to be a bit monotonous. Instead, something else is getting more interesting.

Look at the hoardings of the two national parties: They say the difference

Take a look at the roadside hoardings that the two national parties have been putting across in cities ahead of the campaign rallies of their respective leaders. Above, we see hoardings, one each of the Congress and the BJP put up in Bangalore, and by observing and comparing them, one can predict the state of the two parties at the moment.

BJP's hoarding has a clear message

Speaking about the BJP's hoarding first, it has a clear message to convey. It stresses the personality appeal of its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, the man who is seeing a huge audience greeting him wherever he is attending the rally. The hoarding mainly focuses on the name of the rally and the main speaker at the rally, which is Modi himself.

The two hoardings show a strange role reversal for the two parties

The two patriarchs of the party, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani and the party president, Rajnath Singh, and some other leaders, including the local ones have found place in the hoarding but it is Modi who is clearly the face of the party and his hoarding. An individual is bigger than the party and the hoarding clearly reflects this reality of the BJP today.

The Congress hoarding lacks a focus

When comparing it with the Congress's hoarding, one wonders whether it is a mockery of history. The Congress is known to be the party which has always cashed in on the personal charisma of a towering member of the dynasty that has ruled it over the years. But when one looks at the present hoardings, a strange role reversal of sort is seen.

While the BJP speaks highly about the charisma of Modi, the Congress looks undecided about whom to project. There are a number of faces lined up in the hoarding including that of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (total number of faces displayed on the Congress hoarding is 13 as against the BJP's 11) while two members of the dynasty, party president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi, are seen standing on the two extremes.

Mahatma kept at the centre: Is Congress worried after the Sardar Patel fiasco?

By looking at the Congress hoarding, one doesn't get a clear message about its leadership. Besides the regulars like Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, the hoarding even includes the face of Mahatma Gandhi, which raises a suspicion that perhaps the Congress is rattled by the recent fight over Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's legacy and hence wants to ensure that it doesn't lose Gandhi also to the BJP.

Even the choice of colour makes a difference

The Congress hoarding also mentions a lot about the party and its government's schemes, which also doesn't make a great communication. Moreover, the colours used in the Congress hoarding looks pale in comparison to the yellow hoarding of the BJP, which also speaks about the differences that small things make in public communication.