Political parties adopt various types of tricks to connect with the voters ahead of the election. They also go to the extent of changing the background colour of their symbol to attract voters. Shiv Sena and BJP are known to follow hardcore Hindutva ideology and both the parties recognise themselves with the colour saffron. Even party workers of both these parties wear saffron outfits and turban. However, both the parties don’t have any qualms to change the background colour of their symbol to lure Muslim voters in Jammu and Kashmir.
All India Mahila Congress General Secretary Shamina Shafiq told Afternoon Voice, “BJP won’t gain anything by changing the colour of its symbol. You can fool people only once and not every time. They have fooled the people for five years. People won’t be fooled this time and they will show the BJP its place in this election.”
Saffron colour in the background is missing from Shiv Sena’s official Facebook page. There is no change in the symbol but the colour of the logo has been turned black and white. Sena’s alliance partner BJP too has changed the colour of lotus from saffron to green while campaigning in Jammu & Kashmir. This change has happened amid the voting process for the first phase of Lok Sabha election across the country including Maharashtra.
J&K National Conference State Secretary Mushtaq Ahmed Shah Bukhari asserted, “This is colourful politics. According to me, BJP will stand to benefit out of this and they will win two seats. This activity is planned from Delhi. Politics vary from state to state.”
On the other hand, the Sena and BJP party workers are unhappy with the party’s decision to change the background colour of its logo. According to them, saffron colour is the identity of Sena-BJP and it should not make changes in it. They added that changing the background will send a wrong message to party cadre and voters. Many of them proudly flaunt the saffron colour while campaigning for the party. BJP and Sena might have changed the background colour of their symbol but whether they will stand to benefit from this only election results will say. Instead of working for the welfare of the masses, both the parties are adopting gimmicks to attract voters.
Former BJP minister Umashankar Gupta said, “We don’t have any issue with the green colour. People are spreading false rumours about BJP and the party is not indulging in this act and it is done by others.”
Shiv Sena is having a pre-poll alliance with the BJP for contesting the Lok Sabha polls. Both the parties have announced a 25-23 seat-sharing pact for the Lok Sabha election. As far as the state election is concerned, both the parties will contest an equal number of seats. The Shiv Sena had sought a larger share of seats for contesting the assembly polls wherein it demanded a return to 1995 seat sharing formula when the Thackeray led party had contested 169 seats and BJP was allotted 116 seats out of 288 assembly seats in the state. In the 2014 general election, the NDA had won 41 out of 48 seats in the state. BJP and Shiv Sena contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls together but fought the assembly election separately.
Even though Shiv Sena is the alliance partner of the BJP-led state government but often there has been a rift between both the parties. After winning the state assembly polls, BJP has been trying to play the role of big brother which has upset Sena. Sena often takes potshots at the BJP through its mouthpiece Saamana.
