New Delhi: With the Lok Sabha polls just months away, the mother of all alliances is happening in Old Delhi’s Sadar Bazar shops. Setting aside political differences and ideologies, merchandise of prominent political parties co-exist in colourful chaos to draw the attention of the masses at Asia’s largest wholesale market.
“When sworn enemies - the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party can forge an alliance in Uttar Pradesh, why can’t the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress party come together?” asks a salesman.
He poses for Gulf News, along with a colleague. The duo sport a BJP cap with Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s mask and team up the Congress cap with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mask.
From Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party banners to NaMo or a RaGa T-shirt to flags and badges, wares are vying for space in the cramped stores. While for wholesale traders elections are a time to mint money, for small-time traders and slum dwellers, it becomes a source of livelihood and an opportunity to earn extra income, as they get busy stitching election paraphernalia.
Most of the stitching is done on rusting sewing machines in rooms located in the dingy bylanes of Paharganj and Jhandewalan areas that can be accessed only on foot. Every time the elections are announced, the whole cottage industry crops up in the narrow winding lanes. Employees earn daily wages for their labour, beginning work in the wee hours until midnight. Once the products are stitched, these go for screen-printing of symbols and slogans.
Stocks in demand
“For us, elections are a joyful experience, says Raj Arora, a trader. Arora and his ilk have waited for this windfall moment for five years. “This time the festival of democracy coincides with the festival of colours - Holi. And our pichkaris (water guns) in various shapes and sizes are selling like hot cakes. The most in demand are Modi and Priyanka (Gandhi Vadra) pichkaris,” he adds.
Harpreet Singh, who has been in business for the past 20 years, says, “Orders during election times are unending. As campaigning reaches a feverish pitch, despite working on bulk orders, we often run out of stocks.” The wholesale dealer says he receives orders for promotional merchandise from different political parties from across the country.
Apart from caps, masks and T-shirts, the much-in-demand items include mobile protective covers, mobile stickers, balloons, hand fans, wrist bands and key chains. Prices vary from few rupees to hundreds, depending on the buyer’s capacity.
Ask the sellers if they take sides, Singh responds, “It is our source of income. We may change our vote from one party to another, but when it comes to business, we do not set any personal agenda.”