SP's red cap sales rack up after Modi's jibe

January 28, 2022 16:27

Weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's red cap is red alert jibe, Samajwadi Party workers are buying the cap in hordes in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh to drive home their point that the headgear is a symbol of change and revolution.

And the SP's resolve to prove a point has come as blessing for those selling election paraphernalia as they are witnessing a huge jump in the sales of red caps, a compensation of sorts for the losses they have suffered due to the ban on election rallies due to Covid.

Led by party chief Akhilesh Yadav, SP leaders and workers are registering a silent protest against the prime minister's statement by flaunting their red caps, according to senior leaders.

"Today, every leader and worker of SP is campaigning in villages and streets of the state while wearing a red cap," SP national spokesperson and MLC Sunil Singh Sajan told PTI.

After PM Modi and CM Adityanath's statement that red, the colour of socialism, is a 'red alert for UP' and 'goons with red caps', party leaders and workers are putting on red caps to bring back socialism in the state and change the current government, he added.

Addressing a rally in Gorakhpur in December last year, Modi had targeted the SP, saying those in red caps were a red alert and sign of danger for the state.

In February last year, Adityanath had said every child sees those wearing red caps as "goons". He had also said the House should not be taken lightly as a "drama company" with some members sporting caps in red, some blue, some yellow or even green.

Raju Shukla of Sheela Enterprises, a wholesaler of election material here said, due to the Election Commission's ban on physical rallies and roadshows to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the sale of banners, posters and other campaign merchandise is low except for the red caps which are selling in huge numbers.

"As there is no restriction on wearing a cap, people are preferring it," Shukla said.

Shukla said he is offering a variety of 'red caps' at different price points.

You can get 100 caps for either Rs 2,500 or Rs 1,500. These are of superior quality and usually adorned by the SP leaders, he said.

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