BHUBANESWAR: Elections generally means brisk business for those in printing. But this time it is different as printing press owners of twin city are expecting muted business.
With the model code of conduct in place, announcement of candidates by political parties is underway and campaigning by some candidates has also started but not many printers have yet received orders from any political party or candidate. Only a handful have started printing campaign materials. They feel the growth of social media and Election Commission’s restrictions on political advertisements are making a dent in their business this season.
Come elections and printing presses see an upswing in the business as orders for political banners, pamphlets, posters, leaflets, voters’ slips, called ‘chirkuti’ and other election materials are placed in huge quantities. “But this time, the orders have been next to nil so far. We are waiting for nomination filing for orders from political parties and candidates to come in,” said Sidhart Das, who runs Shree Satyanarayan Press in Cuttack.
Social media, he informed, has affected the printing business to some extent as candidates are shifting their focus to digital platforms to reach out to voters. “With the advent of social media, the traditional election campaign has undergone a sea change as compared to the 2019 elections. The trend now is to target voters digitally and through social media advertising. Besides, it is now easier to improve visibility of a candidate through social media posts from random accounts even if he/she does not opt for digital ads,” he added.
Sources informed that normally, a candidate spends Rs 50,000 to Rs 80,000 on printing campaign materials. The expenditure goes up further depending on a candidate’s campaigning strategy. The cost of a digital ad on social media for seven days begins at Rs 400 and goes up as per the required reach.
What makes the situation worse this time is Election Commission of India (ECI)’s stringent norms on using unauthorised political advertisements, such as posters, wall writings, hoardings and banners, at both public and private spaces. “Since, permission of election officials is now mandatory to paste any poll-related material on walls, the candidates are reluctant to print any,” said Bhramar Sahu, a printer in the capital city. As per ECI norms, no government land or buildings can be used for hoisting party flags, putting up hoardings and wall writings. Besides, those publishing election-related pamphlets and wall posters should publish the details of the printers and the publishers as everything has to be accounted for.