Ad campaign for all party

Manash Pratim Bhuyan New Delhi, Apr 24 (PTI) The media industry, among the first to see revenue dry up due to the economic slowdown, is expected to be one of the major beneficiaries of this election for which ad spend is pegged at around Rs 800 crore. Experts say the total advertisement spending by the political parties would be around Rs 800 crore.

The Congress and the BJP alone could spend over Rs 400 crore on ads on television, radio and newspapers. The major political parties are spending a significant portion of their poll budget on advertisements.

'The media sector is going through a bad phase as even leading MNCs are cutting back on advertising. So the advertisement spending by political parties will definitely help the media sector,' said Bhaskar Rao Chairman of Centre for Media Studies.

However, CEO of NDTV Media Raj Naik said a major chunk of the advertisement spending by the political parties is going to general entertainment and regional TV channels. 'The news channels are not getting that much,' he said.

Rao said most of the leading media houses have reported higher revenue generation in the fourth quarter of the previous financial year due to elections. Rohit Gupta of Adwaves Advertising, a media buying agency, said media sector will be benefitted by the election as it would 'infuse huge sums of money' into the industry.

NDA is finished:Rahul

Expressing confidence that his party would win the elections, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi Tuesday said the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) "was finished and existed "only in the mind".
The NDA is finished and has lost its fight. It's finished all over the country and only exists in the mind, Rahul Gandhi said at a press conference in the capital.
The fight has gone out of them and they are raising new issues every three to four days. There are no central issues.
A confident Rahul Gandhi also declared that his party would win the elections and the undercurrents this time were more positive than the 2004 polls.
We do not think we will sit in the opposition. We will win the elections, he said.
Rahul Gandhi reiterated that Manmohan Singh will be the party-led UPA's prime ministerial candidate post Election 2009 as he is the best man for the post.
"Manmohan Singh is a dynamic person. He has done tremendous things for the country. Manmohan Singh is the best prime minister the country can have," Rahul Gandhi said at a press conference here.
"My personal view is that he is the best prime minister for the country. Congress president (Sonia Gandhi) is also of this view. In general, if we think something is good for the country, we go for it. We thought the nuclear deal was good, we got that done. Now we think Manomohan is the best," Rahul Gandhi said, adding that the party would not compromise on the issue.
His remarks come a day after Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh said the party would not "guarantee" Manmohan Singh being the United Progressive Alliance's (UPA) prime ministerial candidate post the elections, and the alliance partners would deliberate on the issue if it forms the next government.
Rahul Gandhi also said the Congress party has been campaigning hard for the last 30 days and its leadership feels the party will win the elections.