Amid heat and dust, demand for poll campaign paraphernalia shoots up

Hyderabad: Ahead of the State Assembly polls, textile traders see a spurt in demand for caps, flags, bags, scarves and also customised trucks which are used in campaign.

As earlier, for all these products one used to depend on Sircilla town, but now slowly many small textile industries have spurted in the city. Weavers are busy giving finishing touches to flags, banners, caps, shawls and other poll-related paraphernalia for the BRS, Congress, BJP, and other parties.

Textile traders claim polyester fabric is superior to cotton in terms of durability and cost-effectiveness for campaign material. Most parties opt for polyester during the poll season. Along with these customised trucks are in high demand. Workers are busy giving final touches.

“Scarves, head-gear and party flags are in high demand for the upcoming elections. Orders for the products have given a fresh lease of life to weavers, as elections and a few festivals are the only time when we get bulk orders. There was a big rush once parties started releasing candidate list,” said Ramesh, a staffer of Krishna Sai Textiles. Said Raju of Vidya Arts,“With digital printing technology our process becomes easy for producing caps, shawls, banners, flags, festoons. We charge anywhere between Rs 50 and Rs 500 per banner depending on size. Printed shawls and flags come at Rs 20-50 a piece’.

He said ‘powerloom weavers mostly get orders from the BRS and Congress for around 2,000 headgears, 3,000 scarves and about 10,000 flags orders. We are receiving a few orders even from candidates of different parties.” According to a staffer of Rangshala, “Hardly a few vehicles are left for transportation, as around 500 vehicles have been transformed into campaign vehicles. We have received orders even from districts like Vikarabad, Siddipet and Medak. Each candidate requires three-four vehicles. We have 40 per cent more orders this year,” than the 2018 election.