In a warehouse on Mangalagiri Road, workers are mounting a curiously bent iron frame onto an ISUZU-D Max Multi Purpose Vehicle. A few yards away, another team of workers is giving a final coat of paint to another modified van.
With just a year to go for 2019 general election, politicians across party lines are lining up at Guntur-based Jayalakshmi Designers to order customised campaign vehicles.
For years, jeeps from Mahindra & Mahindra were the preferred political vehicles. But they have now made way for the larger and “more rugged” ISUZU-D Max all terrain multi-purpose vans. Manufactured a stone’s throw away at Sri City near Nellore, these vehicles are increasingly preferred also because they tax exempt in the State.
At the busy workshop, the five-seater pick up vans are being re-purposed as open convertibles and equipped with a 5x5 collapsible dais, ready with a water proof carpet, stainless steel railing and a stair case, a powerful public address system and LED focus lights on both the front and the rear. Painted in party colours, the vans also have slots to display pictures of candidates. All for just ₹13 lakh, including the cost of the vehicle.
Inspired by NTR
The brain behind this makeover is Atluri Prasad, who set up a car decor showroom near Patamata in Vijayawada way back in 1995. “The inspiration for my business is the legendary NTR. It was during the launch of Telugu Desam Party that an order was placed to give a makeover to a Chevrolet van which was refurbished as the unforgettable Chaitanya Ratham,” recalled Mr. Prasad, who now leads the team at Jayalakshmi Designers. The company has been making customised campaign vehicles since 2004 and delivered 124 of them to parties, including the Congress, the Telugu Desam and the TRS in 2009. Its high-profile clientele include former and current Chief Ministers Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, N. Chandrababu Naidu and K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
The unit provided 65 campaign vehicles to the Janata Dal (S), Congress and BJP ahead of the recent Karnataka Assembly polls.
Sitting ready in the workshop are customised vehicles for AP Minister for IT and Panchayat Raj and son of Mr. Chandrababu Naidu, Nara Lokesh, Ministers Adinarayana Reddy and Amaranatha Reddy; YSRCP leaders Jogi Ramesh and N. Prasanna Kumar Reddy and others too have placed orders. From across the border, orders from Telangana leaders including P. Harish Reddy, and Prasanth Reddy have also come in.
“We are getting ready to deliver at least 250 vehicles before the 2019 election. We have been getting orders from Haryana and Madhya Pradesh, which are going to the polls soon,” he said.
