During the US elections, image rules. The Obamas, for instance, won a lot of brownie points for the way they conducted themselves – for their clothes, kids, panache and warmth. So, just before the recent Lok Sabha elections when Poonam Mahajan started appearing on hoardings shot by lensman Atul Kasbekar, the question arose whether the packaging of a politician is becoming important in India.
Says political commentator Rajdeep Sardesai, “Image is important but it is not decisive. I don’t think there is a fixed notion of how a successful politician should look. Laloo Prasad Yadav in his crumpled kurta pyjama can be as successful as perhaps Rahul Gandhi with his designer stubble...We are not a telly democracy like America.”
Parliamentarian Milind Deora feels, “Your image stems from your actions. I don’t work towards branding. I am happy to be known as a man who sticks to his guns. In fact, I have often been told to play the guitar in public, but I don’t do stunts for photo-opportunities. Only those people who enter politics to get media attention would do something like that.”
Shaina NC differs. “Five years ago, image would not have mattered,” says the designer-politician. “Today, because of the electronic media, there is a greater visibility. When we go to file our nomination papers or to vote, we are seen. However, the public is smart. No cultivated image will work if you are not going to deliver.”
Ask TV’s Barkha Dutt who is always in the thick of action, and she opines, “Too much is made out of how people look and dress. For me, image comes more from a sense of integrity.”
A fact that Priya Dutt, MP, willingly endorses. “Ultimately it is your connect with people, honesty and sincerity that is important. The way you dress and look do not matter in the long run. What does is your vision, how well you relate to people, how fast and well you connect with their issues, how swiftly you address and solve them.”
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