Amid the high-octane campaign in Tamil Nadu for the Lok Sabha election, the ruling DMK party in the state has launched a quirky poster against PM Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that has taken internet by storm.
MK Stalin-led DMK has come out with a customised poster of Prime Minister Modi in the form of a “scanner”. A photo of PM Modi with “Ji Pay” mentioned on the top and “Please scan and see the scam” written at the bottom, India Today reported.
So if someone scans the poster through their mobile phone camera, it will list out alleged scams by the BJP party. The video in social media showed that after scanning the “JiPay”, it reflected BJP’s alleged corruption through electoral bonds, the irregularities highlighted in the CAG report, alleged corruption in various infrastructure projects, loan to big corporates, etc.
It also appealed to the voters to support the India bloc and reject the BJP in the upcoming general elections.
Holding repeated rallies across the south, PM Modi has sought to win new voters, offering his “topmost respect” to Tamil culture and language, including wearing the region’s traditional white wrap, waving from open-topped convoys in flower-strewn parades.
Modi has also launched a social media handle in Tamil, to win over those who see the BJP dominated by northern Hindi speakers.
But the BJP’s push faces serious headwinds in the south, where voters typically back regional parties and his Hindu nationalism holds little appeal.
In the last Lok Sabha elections (2019), the BJP won just over a fifth of seats — 29 out of 129 — across the five southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.
On the other hand, the DMK-led alliance won 38 out of 39 seats in Tamil Nadu in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. This time, the DMK is contesting from 22 seats in the southern states while its allies Congress from 9 seats, CPI (M) -2 seats, CPI -2 seats, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi-2 seats, and the Indian Muslim League, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Kongunadu Makkal Desai Katchi from one seat each.
The BJP is contesting on 23 seats and has allied with nine other parties. The AIADMK which broke ties with the BJP will be contesting from 34 seats.
Tamil Nadu will cast votes for the Lok Sabha polls 2024 on April 19.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Universal Times Magazine staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
