Songs add colour to poll battle in Punjab

BATHINDA: The BJP meetings seem like bhajan sandhyas and AAP’s like inquilabi morchas. A ‘

Channi

rap’ competes with ‘

Saadda

bir

Sukhbir

’. Songs and slogans have added colour to Punjab elections, while Dhadis (singing bards) that vanished from the Akali stage with the advent of pre-recorded music make a novel comeback.

The BJP has a new theme song: "Jo Ram ko laaye hain, hum unko layenge, Kashi ko sajaya hai, Mathura ko sajaynge, is baar Punjab mein kamal ko khilaynge (Who have brought Lord Rama we’ll bring them; we facelifted Kashi, we’ll facelift Mathura, this time we’ll make the lotus bloom in Punjab". Played with the signature slogans of Jai Shri Ram, Vande Mataram and Bharat Mata Ki Jai, it gives the BJP election meetings the semblance of religious congregations where the preachers or devotional singers on stage prompt the audience to chant after them.

The Aam Aadmi Party’s campaign is centres on national convener Arvind Kejriwal and chief ministerial face Bhagwant Mann. The meeting opens with the song, ‘Ikk mauka Kejriwal nu, ikk mauka Bhagwant Mann nu (one chance to Kejriwal, one chance to Bhagwant Mann)’, and closes with the slogan ‘Inquilab Zindabad!’. The road show playlist ranges from patriotic number Mera rang de basanti chola’ to enthuse the youth to campaign song ‘Saadda CM, Punjab da Mann’.

In the Congress, they project chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi as "messiah of the poor" and raise the slogans ‘Ghar-ghar vich challi gal, Channi karda masle hal (Talk of the town is that Channi solves matters)’, ‘Saadda Channi saadda CM (our Channi our CM). Sometimes they also play patriotic songs.

The Akalis have a song about chief ministerial face Sukhbir Singh Badal’s second coming. "Aounda ae bhi aounda ae, saada veer Sukhbir, badlegi bei badlegi Punjab di tasveer, Punjab di taqdeer (brother Sukhbir is coming, to change the face of Punjab and its fortune)."