Poll blitzkrieg: Political parties spending heavily on advertising to woo voters

Mumbai, Oct 13:The political parties in poll-bound Maharashtra are leaving no stone unturned to woo voters. Right from bringing in their star campaigners to roping in advertisement agencies for their poll campaigning, the parties are doing every bit to ensure their win in the Assembly polls.

According to ad industry experts, the four major political parties namely Congress, BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP have spent around Rs 700-800 crore to sway voters.

The BJP has spent more than Rs 300 crore on advertising, said an Economic Times report. While, the Congress, NCP and the Shiv Sena have coughed up Rs 80-100 crore each. Among the major players, only Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), has not participated in the advertising.

The advertisement companies are saying that following the 'maha-divorce' the political battle has become more fierce and the ad campaign more sleek.

According to report, the BJP and the Shiv Sena for the first time have launched separate ad campaigns. The ad campigning for BJP is taken care of by Soho Square, while Shiv Sena's by Concept Advertising. Earlier, the two parties carried a joint advertising campaign which was led by the BJP.

Post the break-up of the two alliances, between the Congress and the NCP as well as the BJP and the Shiv Sena, the number of candidates have shot up to 4,117 candidates from 2,889 in the 2009 Assembly elections.

The election to the 288-member Assembly will take place on October 15 and counting will be held on October 19.

OneIndia News