With less than 48 hours to go before the first phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the pulse in the country is palpable. With the political parties giving their final push to woo voters as the high voltage campaign ends on Tuesday for the first phase of polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party dropped a video advertisement on social media aimed exclusively at the first-time voters in the country. The 15 million strong voter base, composed of 18-19 year olds, comprises 1.67 per cent of the total voter base in the country.
Spanning three minutes, the advert features young boys and girls from different parts of India grooving to hip-hop, bharatanatyam and even yoga amid a catchy beat that transitions into rap. The rap lyrics convey why the youth in the video would like to cast their vote for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Starting with how they want a candidate, who understands the people’s happiness and listens to their hearts, at the helm, the video moves on to cover a host of issues that they claim the ruling party has addressed and further aims to in the event of winning the elections. It touches upon the issue of home loans, farmers, solar power generation, corruption and bullet trains to name a few. It also mentions the incumbent government’s schemes like Digital India, Startup India, Make in India and Swachh Bharat. Further, the advert acknowledges topics that specifically appeal to the youth such as mobile data schemes that give 1 GB data for less than Rs 120 and development of smart cities.
The tactically placed visuals showcase a young bharatanatyam dancer making the lotus symbol bloom using her hands, while happily demonstrating her head movements. The rose-tinted sunglasses sported by yet another dancer can be viewed as a metaphor to hint at a “better future” for the upcoming generation.
The advert was released in the wake of PM Modi’s speech at a rally in Maharashtra earlier on Tuesday, where he made an appeal to the first-time voters to dedicate votes to the soldiers who conducted the air strike at Balakot. With the catchphrase “My first vote to the one, one and only one who has got everything done”, this ad definitely captures the attention of a post-Gully-Boy India.
If you haven’t already, head over to the following video to see the action!