By Faisal Fareed, Twocircles.net
Even as the Samajwadi Party tries to sort out its internal differences, the Bharatiya Janata Party is leaving no stones unturned in its attempt to woo voters in the state. At least, not when the people are angry because of the troubles caused by demonetisation.
The BJP is organising the “Know a Kamal” mela and the first phase of this will be organised between January 16-27 in 20 different districts of the state. The party is looking at mixing standard fair events, like video show, puppet show, food stalls and other forms of entertainment with propaganda to attract voters.
The 20 districts which have been selected for first phase include Rampur, Hathras, Kaushambi, Bijnor, Lalitpur, Mirzapur, Bulandshaher, Jaluan, Sonbhadra,Badaun, Auraiya, Chandauli, Pilibhit, Barabanki, Azamgarh, Lakhimpur Khiri, Ambedkar Nagar, Sant Kabir Nagar, Unnao and Sidharthnagar.
The attraction include exhibition zone where social welfare schemes of central government will be displayed besides the procedure for availing benefits will also be explained. A virtual reality booth will showcase the achievements of central government in a 360 degree video show. BJP literature Kamal Express will also be available for reading. Laser show and magic show where magician will pull out lotus from hat will be major attraction.
Interestingly, there will be stalls to shoot for fun, but the only difference from the usual stall is that people will aim at targets which will be in the colour of opposition parties’ symbol.
The visitors will also get a chance to click themselves with the cut out of Modi. The BJP had earlier organized the fair on a pilot basis for three days between 18-20 November in Banda. It claimed that 50,000 visitors came during the event. Organisers also provided a hard copy of photograph of selfie with Modi to the people. Nearly 10,000 people took selfie with Modi’s cut out.
BJP claims that the fairs are a means to connect the people with various schemes of the central government, but given the upcoming elections, it is clear that the BJP is going all-out to stake its claim in the state.