Watching the ‘’DLF’’ IPL has exposed us to ‘’Citi” moments of success and “Maxx” timeouts. However such style of branding has been on in the country for many decades. The Nehru-Gandhi name has been prefixed before countless government schemes and projects. Here we look at a supremely effective method of political branding by the Indian National Congress. A method which has succeeded in using the face of the country as an advertising billboard. Consider this: During the Commonwealth games last year, a student of JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY who was studying there on a RAJIV GANDHI NATIONAL FELLOWSHIP received his friends at INDIRA GANDHI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. They then headed for RAJIV CHOWK METRO STATION from where they went to INDIRA GANDHI INDOOR STADIUM to watch their favourite wrestler who had recently won the ALL INDIA RAJIV GANDHI WRESTLING GOLD CUP. After this they headed to NEHRU PLACE where they learnt that the wrestler’s performance had put him in contention for the RAJIV GANDHI KHEL RATNA AWARD. According to lists available on the internet there are more than 450 major schemes1, projects, stadiums, parks etc. named after the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. This exercise has increased the aura already surrounding to the Nehru-Gandhi name and in all likelihood left some sort of an impression on the subconscious minds of millions of voters. When Chief Minister Mayawati of UP recently went on a state-wide rampage to erect statues of elephants (also the BSP symbol), there were a series of protests which accused BSP of constructing permanent ‘’party symbols’’ all over the state. However Mayawati in her defence came out and said that the statues being constructed have the trunks of the elephants raised (in a welcoming position) whereas the BSP party symbol has the trunk lowered. She also went on to state the precedence of Indian National Congress naming multiple nationwide projects on the names of their leaders, hence making BSP’s statues a non-issue. These arguments accompanied with other legal jargon were good enough to leave the authorities scratching their heads2. In comparison to Mayawati, what the Indian National Congress has been doing using the Nehru-Gandhi name has been fairly blatant. Projects in the name of the likes of Vallabhai Patel and B R Ambedkar barely exist. And those bearing the name of the likes of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and P V Narsimha Rao are unheard of. One plausible reason for this obsession with the Nehru-Gandhi name could be that both Indira and Rajiv Gandhi were assassinated. However even Mahatma Gandhi stands nowhere compared to the Nehru-Indira-Rajiv trio when it comes to the naming of mega schemes and projects. Based on the sheer quantity of projects bearing the name of Rajiv Gandhi, it almost … Continue reading Saare Jaha se accha, Gandhistan humara
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