2014 vs 2019: Here's a look at how political advertising shapes in LS polls

This year, on TV, regional parties Telugu Desam and YSR Congress - both from Andhra Pradesh - covered 77% ad insertion share.

As the country gears up for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, here’s a look at how political advertising shapes in comparison to 2014.

Television has increased in popularity for political advertising. It commanded 55 per cent share of medium in March 2019, as against 48 per cent in March 2014.

Television’s gain has been radio’s loss, as the additional 7 per cent has come from the audio medium, while print remained constant at 5 per cent share.

This year, on TV, regional parties Telugu Desam and YSR Congress — both from Andhra Pradesh — covered 77 per cent ad insertion share.

Telugu Desam alone had more than 60 per cent ad insertion share in March 2019. Congress was 3rd with 7 per cent share and BJP on 4th with 4 per cent share.

In print, the Congress and the BJP were neck-on-neck in terms ad insertion share wherein Congress had an upper hand with 23 per cent share followed by the BJP with 21 per cent share.

BJP, however, was miles ahead of other parties when it came to ad insertions on radio, commanding an 88 per cent share.

The Congress had a share of 2 per cent, while Aam Aadmi Party had a share of 4 per cent.

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Hardik Patel to join Congress on Mar 12, may contest LS polls from Gujarat

Hardik Patel's joining will coincide with the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in Ahmedabad today.

Patidar leader Hardik Patel is said to join the Congress soon and is likely to contest the Lok Sabha election from Jamnagar constituency in Gujarat, top party sources said on Wednesday.

"Patel, who led the agitation demanding reservation for the patidar community in Gujarat is likely to join the Congress on March 12 in the presence of party chief Rahul Gandhi," the sources said.

The Jamnagar Lok Sabha seat is currently represented by Poonamben Maadam of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

ALSO READ: Kanhaiya Kumar, Hardik Patel likely to contest 2019 Lok Sabha elections

Patel's joining will coincide with the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in Ahmedabad, following which top party leaders will address a public rally there.

The Congress is focussing on Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and had give a tough fight to the ruling BJP in the last assembly polls in the state.

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Priyanka's political play is about securing allies and cash: US media

Congress president Rahul Gandhi last month made his sister party's general secretary in-charge of crucial eastern Uttar Pradesh having 40 seats in the Lok Sabha.

It may not be clear as yet how Priyanka Gandhi Vadra joining Congress would impact its electoral fortunes, but it would help the party reduce its funding and resource gaps with the ruling BJP, an influential American foreign policy magazine has said.

The Congress Party's newest campaigner may not actually contest elections, but she will likely narrow a funding gap in a country where winning votes costs serious money, Milan Vaishnav from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace wrote in his latest article for the prestigious Foreign Policy magazine.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi last month made his sister party's general secretary in-charge of crucial eastern Uttar Pradesh having 40 seats in the Lok Sabha. She made her maiden road show Monday in Lucknow along with her brother.

Her formal entry into politics, Vaishnav said, has imparted the much-needed enthusiasm to the party, which lost power in 2014 amid a historic victory of the BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Headed into the 2019 general election, the Congress starts from a position of weakness, he said, adding "reports suggest that Congress state units have been starved of funds from the party high command due to the fiscal crunch.

"Priyanka Gandhi's entry into active politics comes at a time when the Congress needs all the help it can get. The party has seen few victories since a disastrous 2014 general election performance, and Gandhi provides a much needed morale boost to the Congress rank-and-file," wrote Vaishnav, co-author of a recent book Costs of Democracy: Political Finance in India.

"Just last month, the Congress was unceremoniously excluded from a pivotal opposition alliance in Uttar Pradesh, India's most electorally consequential state. With Priyanka Gandhi heading the Congress party's campaign in eastern Uttar Pradesh -- home to the parliamentary seats of her mother, brother, and Prime Minister Modi of the ruling BJP -- the party may gain new leverage with fellow opposition forces," he said in his write-up.

"But the Priyanka Gandhi play is not only about winning allies and lifting spirits; it's also about cash. The party is short of it, and Gandhi substitutes for the political finance that the Congress desperately needs," he said.

Stating that "Vadra, unlike Modi, is just a campaigner; there is no indication that she will contest elections herself", he said, "In 2014, the Congress faced three insurmountable deficits - of leadership, ideology, and resources."

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10% quota move will backfire on BJP; 'bahujans' feeling duped: Tejashwi

The government has amended the Constitution without any report from any commission or social and economic survey, said Tejashwi.

The move of granting 10 per cent quota to general category poor will "backfire" on the BJP as the "bahujans" (majority) are feeling duped, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has said.

The Modi government met a key demand of those castes, which had so far not been covered under reservation benefits, earlier this month as it got a Constitution amendment bill passed in Parliament to give 10 per cent quota in education and jobs for the general category poor.

Yadav slammed the government's move as hasty and said that like demonetisation it was implemented hurriedly. Reservation was not a poverty alleviation programme, he added.

The government has amended the Constitution without any report from any commission or social and economic survey, he told PTI.

"To make such a provision, the government must have supporting data and figures, but the Modi government doesn't have that. They implemented it in a hurry, just like demonetisation. The BJP will bear the consequences of it," the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader said.

Asked if the government's move to give reservation to the general category poor will have an impact on the Lok Sabha polls, Yadav said contrary to the general perception, the reservation for the "so-called poor upper caste" persons will "backfire" on the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).

"The Bahujan class is feeling duped... While it was stated that there is a cap of 50 per cent on reservations, but, suddenly the government opens a pandora's box and exceeds reservations beyond 50 per cent, that too without any demand, agitation or movement by beneficiary classes," the former Bihar deputy chief minister said.

"Now, the honourable Supreme Court will have to play by its own yardstick," he said.

'Bahujans', a reference to communities seen as traditionally backward and poor, were denied further reservation in the name of this 50 per cent limit, Yadav said.

Reservation is for ensuring representation to those who have been suffering for ages due to all kinds of inhuman atrocities and restrictions in the name of caste, he said.

"If atrocities were heaped in the name of caste, how can assertive steps or remedial measures be in the name of economic status," Yadav asked.

The RJD leader alleged the government was changing the narrative from caste-based atrocities to economic status to suit its "upper caste mindset".

"On what basis did the government give 10 per cent reservation to those who are already enjoying de facto 50 per cent reservation and in reality much more than that. And what about the caste-based census data? Why it is being hidden by the government? Is it banana republic or a democracy" he asked.

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Shiv Sena to BJP: Why don't you declare date for construction of Ram temple

Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray is scheduled to visit Ayodhya on November 25 as part of his party's push to build a Ram temple there.

The Shiv Sena Friday asked the BJP to come out with an ordinance and declare a date for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

While slamming the BJP, the Sena said those in power should be proud of Shiv Sainiks who had "destroyed Babur's raj in Ram Janmabhoomi". The Babri Masjid was built in Ayodhya n the orders of Mughal emperor Babur.

In an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana', the Sena said it neither moves around with a begging bowl asking for votes in the name of Lord Ram nor does it indulge in "jumlebaazi" (rhetoric) during polls.

Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray is scheduled to visit Ayodhya on November 25 as part of his party's push to build a Ram temple there.

"Why did those, who call themselves pro-Hindutva, start getting a stomach ache when we announced our plans of going to Ayodhya? We are not going there for political purposes," the Sena said in the editorial.

It claimed the party had not given the slogan "Chalo Ayodhya", but Shiv Sainiks were going there for Lord Ram's darshan and also because Ayodhya is "nobody's private place".

"There is no Ram raj there now, but the raj of the Supreme Court. However, in 1992, Balasaheb's Shiv Sainiks had destroyed Babur's raj in Ram Janmabhoomi. Instead of being scared and jealous of such Sainiks, those in power should be proud of them," the Sena editorial claimed.

It further said that instead of casting aspersions on the motive of Sainiks going to Ayodhya, the government should declare a date for the construction of the temple and put all suspicions to rest.

"We ask you ask once again, why don't you declare a date for the construction of the Ram temple? If the issue of Ram temple goes out of your hands, in 2019, apart from your 'rozi-roti' (livelihood), many people's tongues too will become handicapped," the editorial warned.

"Instead of doing everything to stop the Sena, we ask again, why don't you come out with an ordinance and declare a date for the construction of the temple," the editorial stated.

Business Standard

A welfare scheme for 500 mn Indians: Is this Modi's big plan for 2019?

The government has drafted a bill to extend benefits to all workers, including those in informal employment, by merging and simplifying 15 federal labour laws into one.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to extend a welfare program to India’s 500 million workers as he bids for re-election in 2019, but he has limited time and resources to implement the ambitious plan.
PM Modi aims to initially provide three programs — old age pension, life insurance and maternity benefits, while leaving out unemployment, child support and other benefits — to most working citizens, government officials said, asking not to be identified as discussions are private.


While it could translate into significant political gains to offset the challenges he faces in the lead up to the national poll, it is likely to add pressure on India’s fiscal deficit, already one of the widest in Asia.


The government has drafted a bill to extend benefits to all workers, including those in informal employment, by merging and simplifying 15 federal labour laws into one. It plans to present the bill in July in the upcoming session of Parliament, Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar told Bloomberg News, while remaining non-committal on a full-fledged roll-out before the national poll.


The plan will be one of the largest mass benefit programs in the country of 1.3 billion people and comes after the February announcement of a health protection plan targeted to cover 100 million poor families, dubbed ‘Modicare’.


The government plans to pilot the project in six districts in the months leading up to the federal elections due in May next year, the officials said.


“Nobody can deny the importance of social security for the country’s working class and it is overdue,” said Satish Misra, a political analyst at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi. “But the timing suggests it’s political in nature and Modi wants to push it in a hurry so that in election campaign he can claim it’s a game changer for poor.”

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After bitter Palghar bypoll battle, Fadnavis for pre-poll alliance with Shiv Sena

The chasm between the Sena and the BJP has grown further since the results of the recent by-polls in Maharashtra were announced

Days after estranged National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies -- the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena -- ran an acrimonious campaign against each other ahead of the Palghar bypoll, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday called on BJP office-bearers to try for a pre-poll alliance with the saffron ally.



"Fadnavis asked the party's state office-bearers to try for a pre-poll alliance with the Shiv Sena. But, he said that if the alliance does not materialise, we should prepare to contest alone," Raosaheb Danve, the BJP's state unit chief, told news agencies on Monday.



The allies had exchanged sharp barbs during campaigning for the Palghar and Bhandara-Gondiya by-polls, held on May 28. While the BJP won Palghar by a margin of 29,572 votes, it lost Bhandara-Gondiya to the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine.



A few days ahead of the by-election, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray released an audio clip, purportedly of Fadnavis asking BJP workers to use all possible means to win the by-election.



Subsequently, Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut launched a scathing attack on Fadnavis, saying that the chief minister is full of arrogance. "We have all seen that in politics, even a dog starts considering himself a tiger after coming to power," Raut had told agencies.



In response, the BJP targeted Shiv Sena for "not acknowledging" the "achievements" of the Narendra Modi government in the past four years.

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