Politics is no more limited to mere rallies, television debates or discussions at workplace. The election fever in 2014 has gripped the youth and their pockets too. Be it a keychain, cushion cover, t-shirt or a laptop sleeve, political firebrands are everywhere on the virtual world.
You can start your day with coffee in a Kejriwal mug, switch on your laptop that has a Narendra Modi sleeve, find your Rahul Gandhi key chain and go for a ride wearing Mamata Banerjee t-shirt. As the country is inching towards one of its most phenomenal elections of all times, the visibility of poll merchandises is increasing on the internet. Several online shopping websites have come up in the past couple of months that are selling varied range of election-related products.
Most of these websites are founded by youth and are targeting young buyers. The entrepreneurs cashing in on the widespread political fever and are not associated with any political parties. However, they are often approached by party workers for bulk order, especially during a big event or rally. Founder of ‘bluegape.com’ merchandise portal Sahil Baghla says that out of business of Rs 15 lakh per month, 30 percent of the figures come from political merchandise.
“Products related to Aam Aadmi Party make the largest part of our sales. But in Chhattisgarh, we sell more of Modi merchandises, said the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur alumnus. Demand for merchandise related to Congress and Rahul Gandhi is less, he said. In a novel idea, 28-year-old Yatharth Bhuwalka founder member of ‘electionfever2014.in’ displays political inclination of youth based on purchasing patterns on his website. His business plan offers a buyer to choose t-shirts from prints of eight political parties. Bhuwalka is joined by XlRI students Puskar Pandey and Akshay Antony.
“A large section of voters in this lok Sabha elections will be youth who want to flaunt their political ideas through clothes, posters and other items,” Bhuwalka said who operates from Kolkata. Poll giants like BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal are the top sellers, merchandisers say. Visibility of Congress and Rahul Gandhi is losing this popularity race by a wide margin.
Twenty-six-year-old Janardan Tiwari from Ballia in Uttar Pradesh has launched a website ‘modimania.com’ that is selling Modi-cut kurtas for men. The half-sleeved NaMo styled short kurtas are getting increasingly popular among youngsters. “It has been just two months that I launched this website and the response has been great. The website will soon offer battery-run lED t-shirts,” Tiwari said. His website also sells t-shirts, laptop skins, key chains, mouse pad, pen and even silver coin and pepper spray displaying Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi
The entrepreneurs are hoping that the election fever is here to stay at least for a few months more and the sales will increase as the election dates approach. Before gripping India, the political merchandise was a big hit in United States where products from soap, apparels, posters, magnets and a wide range of items sold like hot cakes.