Nine-yard poll ad: Bihari workers in Surat to send home saris with Modi pictures

It was done in the 2014 general elections and it’s being done again. After T-shirts, bags and rakhis featuring Prime Minister Modi’s image, now saris are being used to project him in a BJP campaign. The Times of India reports that Bihari workers in Gujarat are sending five lakh saris with a Modi image on them back home, ahead of elections in the eastern state. [caption id=“attachment_2403478” align=“alignleft” width=“380” class=" “]  Image courtesy: AFP[/caption] The TOI report quotes C R Patil, BJP MP from Navsari, as saying that he hopes that this innovative method clicks with voters in the state. Patil is the co-incharge of the Bihar poll campaign. According to an Indian Express report, Patil had met about about 100 textile traders in Surat to discuss strategies for the BJP campaign in Bihar. It was decided that the entire packaging, including even the tapes on the carton, would have a picture of either Modi or a BJP symbol. Surat has a large Bihari population of around 5 lakh people, many of whom are employed in the textile sector, diamond polishing units and other major industries, the  Times of India report notes. In Bihar, the BJP has launched a campaign where women who tie a rakhi on a BJP member’s hand would get an accidental insurance scheme of Rs 2 lakhs as a return gift. The insurance would be at a premium of just Rs 12 a year, reported  Hindustan Times. A Times of India report says that several traders in Surat have also manufactured bags with Narendra Modi’s picture and the slogan “Sab ka saath, sab ka vikas” printed on them. But this isn’t the first time such ‘Narendra Modi’ saris have turned up before an election. The 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign had also seen distribution of Narendra Modi saris among voters. However, the strategy was blocked by the Pilibhit district magistrate, who directing that the sale of saris in such boxes should be stopped, as reported by The Times of India. In Diwali last year, BJP minister Smriti Irani, too, had distributed saris in Amethi, where she had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections against Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi_ ._