Maharashtra polls: Major political parties spending Rs 700-800 crore on advertising to woo voters

MUMBAI: With allies turned rivals making the upcoming polls in Maharashtra a fourway contest, the state is witnessing organised political advertising for the first time, according to industry experts and brand consultants, who estimate that the four major parties are spending Rs 700-800 crore to sway voters.

The BJP alone is spending more than Rs 300 crore on advertising, media planners said while pegging the ad spend of the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Shiv Sena at Rs 80-100 crore each. Only the Raj Thackerayled Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), among the important parties, has not participated in the high-octane advertising, they said.

“I can’t recall the last time when Maharashtra assembly elections witnessed such massive advertising campaigns,” said Santosh Desai, CEO of Future Brands, adding that the “campaigns are sleek and are of high quality” because the stakes are much higher this time for the individual parties following the breakup of the alliances, between both the BJP and the Shiv Sena, and the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party.

The BJP and the Shiv Sena have launched separate ad campaigns for the first time, created by Soho Square and Concept Advertising respectively.

Earlier, both parties relied on joint advertising campaigns led by the BJP. This is the Shiv Sena’s first major ad campaign in the state, besides the advertising that it does for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls.