The merchandising game of political parties can give commercial enterprises a run for their money. Party symbols and personalities are not just popping out of cutouts, banners and billboards from every nook and cranny of India’s cities. Now you even find them on T-shirts, umbrellas and other similar everyday items.

Many of the banners and hoardings are in violation of the poll code. In Delhi alone, three lakh posters were removed and 131 FIRs lodged by the police for defacement of public property.

In the city’s Sadar Bazaar area, shops sell merchandise catering to many political parties. Elections are busy times for the shops that offer everything from party banners to flags. Some of these shops began stocking customised keychains, bottles, masks and other knick-knacks from Diwali last year to be ready for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Photo: J_Manoharan

New guard: Young and old wear masks of Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam leader TTV Dhinakaran at a poll campaign in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu

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All-star cast: Supporters wear masks of actor and Makkal Needhi Maiyam leader Kamal Haasan at an election rally at Srirangam in Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu

Photo: K_K_Mustafah;K_K_Mustafah -

Throw shade: As election fever peaks with the mercury in Palakkad, Kerala, there is an umbrella for every kind of political leaning

Photo: K.K.NAJEEB

Paint the town: Parties of all hues vie for attention at this political merchandise shop in Kerala

Keep rolling: Campaign banners churned out by the hundreds at a manufacturing unit in Ghaziabad

Adult franchise: An election official explains the working of the electronic voting machine during an awareness drive in New Delhi

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Lend a hand: A tailor in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, works into the night to finish stitching campaign material for the Congress
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