ranchi they might not be the citys hot fashion favourite of the season but that isnt stopping election fashion accessories from grabbing eyeballs ahead of the lok sabha elections following bjp the party office of congress in ranchi has also set up a counter to sell poll paraphernalia to its supportersaccessories ranging from small brooches and collar pins to pens and pagdis both the parties are running neck to neck in the merchandize war in the city plastered with faces of their leaders prime minister narendra modi and rahul gandhi the sale of these merchandize is slowly picking uptalking to toi santosh kumar prasad who set up the merchandize kiosk at congresss party office said our bestsellers are the patkas worn painted in the colours of the national flag and adorning the symbol of the party along with the face of rahul gandhi priced at rs 10 a piece we have two varieties of the product in satin and roto cloth we also have everything from flags to badges and even tricolour pagdis for the buyers though the sales are not very high it is expected to pick up after the nominations are filedprasad added that he is awaiting the arrival of the first batch of raga tshirts i have received quite a few enquiries regarding tshirts and i have already placed orders for the same bike accessories like flags and small decor items are also coming in he addedthe bjp party offices merchandize store is also all set to take its game up a notch standard items like flags sashes and modi bundis are already in stock smaller daytoday use items like pens caps bracelets and badges have also been stocked up said pradyuman who manages the shopbasant mittal another member handling the poll merchandize section of bjp added we are expecting the arrival of sarees branded with the bjp symbol other wearable items like tshirts are already in stockon the other hand regional parties are lagging behind in the merchandize race we dont have any plans to introduce merchandize at the state level if the candidates want they can introduce their own line of paraphernalia individually said jmm general secretary supriyo bhattacharya similarly jvmp too does not have plans to introduce any merchandize anytime soon said rajendra tiwary the personal secretary of party chief babulal marandiincidentally the merchandize frenzy is spreading beyond the party offices with small traders and merchants also stocking up on poll paraphernalia makeshift shops have sprung up in upper bazaar and near kadru over bridge in ranchi ready to cash in on the merchandize war as the poll season reason its peak