On Government sponsored Advertising pre-elections

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In all the national dailies that I read every morning as I sip my first cup of tea, I see many poorly laid out full page advertisements in plainly incompatible colours that tell me about the inauguration of rail lines, telephone exchanges, food processing parks and a dozen other things that are of no consequence to my daily life.

Inevitably, there is also a stamp album like line up of the passport size photographs of the movers and shakers of that ministry, state or Public Sector Enterprise. The rogue’s gallery actually indicates that power is multi tiered and often the placement level and size of the image clearly indicates the pecking order, no pun intended. "The art of government is the organization of idolatry." said George Bernard Shaw and, In fact, I wonder if it could give us guidance on how the 33 crore divinities in the Hindu Godly world could possibly be arranged.

Without an exception, these are all Hon’ble people. They are performing a public duty in informing me of a successful hundred days for a government in a state that I have never visited nor probably ever will.

Ask the question Why ? All sensible politicians ought to stay firmly in the midway zone between being hopelessly local and mindlessly global. In any case, there are probably less than two dozen political leaders in the entire country who have a claim to being leaders of even the state that they come from. Yet, it cannot be that this shrewd class of power players/seekers are poorly advised, misguided, or simply megalomaniacal in their drive for national advertorial led publicity . It is not an obscure obsession. They are hugely manipulative, thoroughly worldly and sharply focused on enlarging the perimeters of their personal power when they do this. Which is why, they hesitate not for a second in using state funds for targeted program publicity as an instrument of individual, family and party propaganda. They are operating strictly within the bounds of rationality. They probably have an eye on posterity .Surely, they are acutely aware that Indian voters accept their superego in proportion to the image carried in the advertisement. Indeed, they can justly make the implicit claim that their single-handed rule delivers effectively. They might even be able to point to improving standards of living, higher employment, reduced rates of crime, and an absence of civil discord. Not that these are criteria for winning again or even for being judged prior to a vote. May one entertain the sacrilegious thought that advertising budgets are not being spent but invested?

I am sure our bi-partisan journalistic fraternity is completely objective and no editorial warmth is ever generated by these insipid advertorials. It would be silly to think that media vehicles are to blame for a rather skewed share of spend. Isn’t Prime Time on English News channels exactly the right place for advertisements on Rural employment, pulse polio, pre requisite paper work for semi skilled labourers going to the Gulf .

Like al else, blame this on the politician. I suppose their advertised personas are not mere affectations. Probably it is their psychological compulsion in tricking themselves and others into believing that as merely themselves, they have a viable social role. That they are full of humility and infused with the spirit of team work in pursuing social good is manifest in the ubiquitous photo gallery. It is full of identity-diffusing properties. Believe it and watch on as this phenomenon reaches new highs with the approaching General Elections.

There are some things which are recession proof. Thank God.