The Congress and the BJP, in the run-up to the Assembly elections, are constantly working at engaging the public over what they have named the ‘Karnataka development model’ and the ‘Modi development model’, respectively. We first heard it in electoral speeches and then on social media. Now it is in cinemas across the State.
The Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) of the Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) has been giving two-minute films on the “achievements” of the State government to digital service providers (DSPs) such as UFO and Qube. They are screened before the beginning of the film and during the interval. Sources at UFO said this is the practice in over 700 screens across the State, and the fee is ₹15 for 12 seconds.
The Congress party’s films, focussed on the schemes launched by the State government, end with the slogan “Nava Karnataka Nirmanakke Sada Sidda Sarkara, Siddaramaiah Sarkara” (Forever ready to build a modern Karnataka, Siddaramaiah government).
The BJP’s films talk of the achievements of the party-led NDA government at the Centre, and the focus is on campaigns such as Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao.
Since these come as part of the package provided by the DSPs, theatre owners have little say in the screening, irrespective of their party loyalties.
Needless to say that film-goers are miffed as this one-upmanship advertising is cutting into the time of film trailers. “Because of these government advertisements, we are missing the trailers,” said Manjunath of Rajajinagar. The same advertisements are on television too, rued Satish Chandra, a bank employee from Chamarajpet.
When contacted, Harsha, director of DIPR, said: “There is nothing unusual about screening films on the schemes and achievements of the government. It is a routine thing and government films are given to theatres based on the rates fixed by the DAVP.”