Lucknow:The political scene is hotting up in Uttar Pradesh with the BJP and rival Samajwadi party going all-out to counter each other and gain upperhand in the upcoming bypolls. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's coined lines 'batenge toh katenge' (divided we fall) much before the bypolls were announced created ripples.
To counter BJP, a Samajwadi Party worker from the Deoria district put up a hoarding outside the party's office in Lucknow, which read 'judenge to jeetenge' (united we win).
Akhilesh Yadav-led party eyes uniting PDA – pichrde, Dalits and alpsankhyak. Their votes helped SP get 37 seats in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha polls. Samajwadi Party has long been critical of the Bjp's ‘Batenge Toh Katenge' slogan and termed it as a product of BJP ‘lab' which talks of divide and disharmony.
Several posters of SP's new slogan came up at several places in Lucknow. The party claims that ‘Judenge Toh Jeetenge' has positive energy as it talks of uniting people and victory. The hoardings by another SP worker from the Maharajganj district says 'na batenge, na katenge, PDA ke sang rahenge' (we will neither get divided nor we will fall) and 'PDA jodegi aur jeetegi' (PDA will unite and win).
The BSP too jumped in the slogan fray with its chief Mayawati on Saturday saying, "BSP se judenge toh aage badhenge, surakshit rahenge'' (people will progress and remain safe with the BSP's).
Amit Chaubey, an SP worker from the Maharajganj district who coined two slogans told PTI, "The Samajwadi Party has coined the term 'PDA' which encompasses all sections of the society. Here 'P' also stands for 'pandit' (Brahmin), and A stands for 'agda' (upper castes).
"The SP is a party of all religions. Party founder 'Netaji' Mulayam Singh Yadav and party chief Akhilesh Yadav have worked for all sections of the society, and formed policies for them. However, the BJP works by dividing on the basis of caste." He added that these prompted him to coin the slogans.
SP worker from the Deoria district Vijay Pratap Yadav put up a hoarding outside the party office in Lucknow, which read 'judenge to jeetenge'. A third such poster by SP worker Ranjeet Singh reads 'na batenge, na katenge, 2027 ko nafrat karne waale hatenge. Hindu Muslim ek rahenge to nek rahenge'.
A riveting show on cards
Dwelling into the psychological aspect of such political slogans, Pradeep Khatri, who taught psychology at Lucknow's National PG College, told PTI, "All these political slogans are innovative, attractive, and hammer on the mind of the people, thereby leaving long-lasting impression on people's mind, and the impact continues." "This is the main reason that leaders of various political parties use slogans most of the time. These make an immediate and effective connection with the voters and masses. These also have an immediate recall value. As a result, these are retained more in the memory of the masses than the speeches," added Khatri, now a practising clinical psychologist and counsellor.