Political hues bathe festival of colours in Guwahati

GUWAHATI: The colours of Holi took on political hues in the city as electioneering gained momentum with the announcement of the names of party candidates ahead of the

Lok Sabha

election.


The biggest hit is the the Narendra Modi 'pichkari', which is flying off racks in commercial hub Fancy Bazar among other markets. Modi merchandise seems to be very popular among buyers this season. Pichkaris are flaunting the Prime Minister's face and buyers don't seem to mind picking up one for the family.

"Modi is a familiar figure and the children love his oratorial skills. After seeing the Modi pichkaris, I could not resist the temptation to buy one," said Satyen Sarma, father of nine-year-old Sneha at Fancy Bazar.

Santosh Das, a shopkeeper at the busy Paltan Bazar said the strategy of the manufacturers has paid off. But he felt, there should have been vibrancy in the shape of different Holi items having images of diverse political leaders. "That way others would also have had a choice," he said.

"In north India, they are selling such pichkaris with faces of different political leaders. But here we only get to see Modi pichkaris," said Das. With election round the corner, the sale of the Modi merchandise had everyone thinking if it was in violation of the model code of conduct.

Officials in Kamrup (Metropolitan) district election office had a similar query. "If a political party distributes Holi items, featuring images of politicians in public gathering, it can be called a violation of the model code of conduct. But as far as sale Holi items with images of politicians are concerned, we cannot consider that to be a violation of the code. The issue of breaching the code guidelines has to be related to political parties violating election guidelines," said Kamrup (Metropolitan) district election officer, Jimlee Saikia Kakoty.

The biggest festival of Assam, the Rongali Bihu is round the bend and the pichkari sellers could as well be inspiring a similar business strategy for the local festival. The traders' fraternity said that since Rongali Bihu celebrations will overlap with the Lok Sabha election schedule, political shades may paint the Bihu festivity in April as well.