THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : More than the names of candidates, the election-ready walls of Mulloor sport the concept that they represent. Extending along one such wall is a mural for BJP candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
The artist, Binulal M R, 51, has been painting election graffiti for the past 35 years. The first time he picked up a paintbrush for the polls was for O N V Kurup, during the 1989 Lok Sabha elections. He vividly remembers painting the ‘weighing balance’, ONV’s symbol. “The style has changed,” Binulal said, looking at the Ram Temple painting that he just finished working on.
“I am a communist, but I paint for all parties. I neither bring politics into my work nor compromise on my conviction,” he said. Binulal, who works as a graphic designer in Nagercoil, recollected his introduction to the sector in Thrissur in 1996.
“I was painting cloth banners and murals when I met Jose, the then branch secretary of the CPM, who allowed me to make banners and do graffiti for V V Raghavan, the then CPI candidate for the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency. Both the assembly and the Lok Sabha elections were almost at the same time then. The election heat was at its peak and I painted on many walls for Raghavan. My fondest memory is of him defeating Congress stalwart K Karunakaran in that election. I somehow felt I was also part of that historic win,” he said.
Though all three major fronts approached him, he could not commit the work for the UDF owing to time constraints. However, he arranged for artists to paint walls for them. “All parties have different needs. Some ask for detailed work while others stick to traditional ways. Whatever the needs are, I strive to cater to it,” he said.