The Congress’s media campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls could get delayed as party chief Rahul Gandhi has asked for more options after reviewing a few campaign themes to take on the BJP.
A source familiar with the developments told The Hindu that he would meet a few leaders of the publicity committee — tasked with designing the campaign — on Saturday for a second time in two days.
On Thursday, Mr. Gandhi asked them to come up with more options in terms of themes to take on the NDA government.
Not satisfied
He is learnt to have expressed his dissatisfaction with a jingle that was an adaptation of the Chak De song from the eponymous Shah Rukh Khan film and slogans such as “ Sachi Sarkar, Achi Sarkar” (truthful government, good government).
“The Congress president was not entirely satisfied with the creative aspects of the slogans and campaign. So he has asked for more options but that could push back the entire campaign by a few days,” said the source.
The publicity committee, headed by Anand Sharma, was ready with themes such as vada (promise) versus dhoka (betrayal) to highlight “the gap between what Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised before 2014 and how he didn’t deliver in the past five years.”
Four firms selected
From 13 advertising companies, the Congress had selected four firms — Percept, Crayon, Leo Burnett and Design Boxed — based on their presentation and past association with the Congress campaigns as well as the UPA government. But opinion within the party is divided on which agency is best suited to helm the 2019 campaign.
Leo Burnett successfully handled the Congress’s campaign in 2004 when aam aadmi (common man) was the focus of the campaign.
But in 2013, during the UPA rule, Percept handled the Bharat Nirman campaign in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
More recently, Design Boxed handled the party’s successful campaign in the Punjab, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh Assembly elections.
Dividing tasks
The companies finally chosen would conceptualise and exclusively handle the party’s campaigns in print, electronic, digital and social media and also outdoor campaigns.
But unlike the 2014 elections, where Dentsu India handled a major chunk of the Congress’s ₹500-crore media campaign, the party is keen on dividing the responsibility among multiple agencies.
