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These days, a big and unexpected change is being seen in the political corridors of Uttar Pradesh, which has given sleepless nights to the local leaders and ticket contenders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Just ahead of the upcoming political events in the state and especially the much-awaited UP visit of Union Home Minister and BJP’s chief strategist Amit Shah, the party high command has issued a very strict diktat. The basic mantra of this new order is – ‘Remove the faces, show only the work’. This means that now hoardings and posters with big faces of local leaders will not be seen on roads, intersections and digital platforms, but in their place there will only be details of the achievements, public welfare schemes and development works of the double engine government. After this strict instruction, posters and banners are being brought down all over Uttar Pradesh overnight, which has put a sudden break on the ‘poster leadership’ that has been going on for decades and is being considered as a masterstroke in the direction of ending factionalism.
In Indian politics, especially in a big and politically active state like Uttar Pradesh, to show their influence, local leaders and small workers used to cover the entire city with posters of their faces on festivals, birth anniversaries of great men or when a big leader visited. But now the state leadership of UP BJP, after clear instructions from Delhi Darbar, has made it clear that there will be no pictures of local leaders’ army on any hoarding or poster. As per the new guidelines, the official posters will have only permitted photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the national president, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and state presidents, and the rest will focus solely on the ‘work’ done by the government. The party believes that the public votes not for the faces of leaders but for the development work done on the ground and good governance. Therefore, the ‘Lotus’ symbol and the party’s ideology will be kept paramount rather than person worship or personal branding.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah is considered the ‘Chanakya’ of the Bharatiya Janata Party and everyone is aware of his expertise in election management. The main objective of his UP tour is to review the organizational structure of the party in the state, take the pulse of the workers and prepare a surefire strategy for the upcoming Mission 2027 (UP Assembly elections). Shah’s working style has been very strict and disciplined. That is why before his arrival the state organization decided to ensure that no leader shows his personal ambition above party interest. In fact, before the elections, many leaders were spending lakhs of rupees on posters to present themselves as potential candidates, due to which a wrong message was being sent among the public that factionalism and lust for position is dominant within the party. This ‘poster ban’ order of the high command has ruined the plans of many leaders who wanted to show their political stature only on the basis of hoardings.
Political analysts believe that this step of UP BJP has not been taken only to save the cities from discolouration, but there is a very deep political thinking and damage control strategy hidden behind it. When four different party leaders put up their respective posters in the same Assembly or Lok Sabha constituency, it creates division among the workers at the local level and gives the opposition parties an opportunity to target the infighting within the BJP. By implementing the policy of ‘show only work’, the party has made it clear that no leader is bigger than the party. Along with this, a strict warning has been given to the local units that if any leader or official violates this order and puts up hoardings in the city on his own will, it will be considered as direct indiscipline and strict organizational action will be taken against him. This will also boost the morale of those real and loyal workers working on the ground who sweat for the party without any pretense.