Muffler Man no laughing matter as AAP gets a fund boost

The Muffler Man campaign on social media, which was started by volunteers of the Aam Aadmi Party, has turned out to be a fund-raiser of sorts, with the party witnessing a rise in donations ahead of the Delhi assembly elections.

The campaign, inspired by AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal who was often seen with a muffler during campaigning last year and while he was the Delhi Chief Minister for 49 days, took the social media by storm and has been trending on Twitter for the past eleven days.

While Kejriwal's 'common man' attire became his trademark, he also faced some ridicule. Party sources said the AAP leader is prone to throat infection during the winter, which is why he prefers to guard his ears and neck with the muffler.

AAP spokesperson Atishi Marlena told PTI that the party did not undertake this campaign but some of the volunteers started it.

Party workers said the idea of Muffler Man initially came from a volunteer in Mumbai.

The response for this from our volunteers was so encouraging that it instantly became a hit. Then a volunteer from London made pictures which further made the campaign famous.

"Volunteers across the globe started tweeting about this for the first three days after which it started trending," said a party vounteer.

#Mufflerman is trending in top three since last 11 days.

The word Muffler Man was used 3 lakh times on Twitter in three days. The purpose is to take the campaign to the people and we are succeeding in it," the volunteer said.

In another video campaign on women safety that has become viral on social media, three eve-teasers are waiting at the bus stop, while a girl arrives there.

She is scared and stays away, but the boys tell her that she is safe. The campaign ends with one of the boys saying, "There is no place for people like us because muffler man is coming to Delhi this winter."

The video has been reportedly made by party volunteers.

Another poster based on Hollywood movie Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which has gone viral on Twitter, says, "Fear is Near. After 49 days of Glory, he is coming back to hunt corruption from every street of Delhi?The Muffler Man Return, the Corruption Hunter."

With the idea catching imagination of people, the party is working to use the "Muffler Man" image to strengthen its base.

It has, however, clarified that the campaign on them social media has nothing to do with the party.

"The party did not undertake this campaign. It was some of our volunteers who started the campaign and was instantly like by people," said party spokesperson Atishi Marlena.

The party has also seen a surge in donations.

"After donating money, people are leaving messages that they were giving money to the muffler man and his clean politics," said Arvind Jha from the fund raising team of the party.

Since November 1, the party has collected over Rs 1 crore across the globe.

AAP's 5 Big Campaign Strategies for Delhi

 
Necessity is the mother of invention; many a times, adversity turns weakness into strength. When the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) decided to contest elections nearly two years ago, its biggest worry was funds.

Traditional politics is defined by vulgar spending and buying of votes. Campaigning requires reaching out to each voter by all means and in all media, be it TV, newspapers, bill boards, banners, posters, pamphlets, cut outs, big rallies, corner meetings, loudspeakers, road shows. Everything costs a lot, including maintenance of offices in each ward and taking care of the daily needs of party workers.

Traditional parties run their election campaigns through paid workers who are paid anything between Rs. 500 - Rs. 5000 per day. Money is also required to distribute liquor. Packets containing notes are also distributed among selected voters. Every constituency has a few "vote dealers" who claim to command bulk votes, from a few hundred to a few thousand. All political parties offer them hard cash for this. 
  
But AAP has to work with meagre funds, and we have  vowed not to do anything which is not constitutionally mandated and weakens our democracy. An army of committed volunteers and crowd sourcing gave us ideas of campaigning which are puncturing the myth that only the moneyed class can contest elections.  
 
Here are 5 AAP strategies for the coming Delhi election:

1) AAP has invented the concept of 'Gully Prabhari', that is a person in charge of a street. This person is responsible for campaigning in his or her street. They are to place a hoarding on the wall that has Arvind Kejriwal's name, the name of the party i.e., AAP, the party symbol of the Jhaadu (broom), and the name of the candidate of the constituency. Every volunteer has been given  the responsibility supervise 25 houses per neighbourhood in an attempt to win their support. 

2) Placing posters on Delhi autos. AAP was visible in every corner without paying a single penny. It was a runaway success. The auto drivers felt empowered for the first time. These autos became the back-bone of the AAP's campaign. The success of this strategy alarmed the Delhi government and its political masters, and an attempt was made by the government to ban posters on autos. The matter was taken to court, and the order was stayed by the Delhi High Court. This time around, auto drivers, who are AAP sympathizers, will give questionnaires to passengers so that the party gets feedback on important policies and issues.  

3) Distribution of pamphlets and hanging of posters are banned in  the Delhi Metro. The party came out with the brilliant idea of distributing visiting cards. Volunteers are to ride the metro and distribute simple visiting cards of AAP, carrying simple messages. The latest in the list of innovations is the 'Metro Wave'. This involves AAP volunteers with their caps, hanging out at the entrance and exits of every metro station in groups, singing and playing music and intermittently asking people to vote for AAP.

4) Another strategy that AAP is very excited about is a flash mob kind of small team of Nukkad Natak which will visit various places. They will appear from nowhere. All of a sudden, they will assemble in a crowded corner, enact a small play, sending out a social and political message and in the end, they will ask people to vote for AAP. This team is called 'Play for Change'. This team is extremely popular amongst the university crowd and youngsters and the performance is mainly for them.

5) Check out our 'Human Banners'. As everyone knows, putting up banners is a very costly affair. It was decided to ask our own volunteers to form a team of two to three and physically hold these big banners from the bannisters of flyovers. The moving traffic down below gets the feel of banners being hung up whereas the fact is that they are held up by volunteers. This is again very effective on traffic crossings too.

The Party is still in the process of formalizing a few more such low-cost innovations and tricks to make elections more creative and fun. Money can buy workers but it can't make them committed volunteers. AAP's success lies in the vibrant but young minds that are willing to tread an extra mile in the pursuit to change a corrupt system.