The BJP may have washed it away but now another political party has picked up the tag line — “party with a difference”.
It is the newly-formed Love Party that now claims to be a party with a difference. The party, based in Allahabad, does not deal with “mundane” issues like electricity, water, fertiliser shortage, reservation, caste issues etc.
“Our focus is on the necessity of love in everyone’s life. Whether it is the rich or the poor, they need love to survive. Material deprivations can be dealt with but emotional deprivation can wreck one’s life. Our party focuses on love and promises top give full protection to anyone who seeks love,” says Pushpraj Singh Yadav, the state president of the Love Party. The “manifesto” of the Love Party includes opening of “love parks” where couple can spend time together without being insulted, humiliated and harassed by the police, a sum of `10,000 for couples who face genuine harassment by their family or community members, physical and legal protection to couples who face the risk of being eliminated and seeking ban on Khap panchayats.
The Love Party has already applied for registration with the Election Commission and has sought the “heart” as its symbol. “If the EC does not give us the heart, we will draw a heart around any other symbol that is given to us,” says Pushpraj Yadav.
The Love Party, to begin with, is keen to contest 12 seats in and around Allahabad and the contestants are mostly love couples who have faced hardships in their relationships. The party, interestingly, does not have a formal office yet and its meetings are held in the local Chandra Shekhar Azad Park in Allahabad.