How BJP’s campaign was on a song despite Covid curbs

NEW DELHI: When most political parties in the five poll-bound states were facing the constraints of Covid-related restrictions on rallies and roadshows, BJP’s campaign was on song, Quite literally. If exit polls for UP and Uttarakhand prove true on result day on Thursday, the saffron party will have singers like Faridabad-based Kanhaiya Mittal to thank for chartbusters like “Jo Raam Ko laye hain, Hum Unko Layenge”, which gave the party top of mind recall at a time when most campaigning had gone virtual.

Although Mittal is not a BJP member, his song was a eulogy to BJP’s efforts in winning the legal battle and paving the way for construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

This assembly election campaign has seen BJP make full use of its “soft power” available in the form of several singers, who are full-fledged party members. Famous Bhojpuri actor/singer and North East Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari teamed up with Mittal and they together released, ‘Mandir ab banane laga hai, Bhagwa rang chadhane laga hai’ which again was a blockbuster and a major hit in the two states.

Tiwari and noted singer/actor Dinesh Yadav alias Nirahua sang a duet — “Janata ne umad ke bola ab rang le basantee chola, sadak banegee, pul bhee banega hoga bam-bam bhola”. Nirahua had contested the Lok Sabha polls as BJP nominee in 2019 against SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.

People in remote areas and far-flung villages could be seen playing these songs on public transport and personal vehicles too. The videos of these songs were shared by the party on social media.

Tweaked lyrics of the Bhojpuri rap number “Mumbai Me Ka Ba” sung by Manoj Bajpayee at the height of the Covid crisis to highlight the plight of migrant workers was favoured by several singers to make a political statement. If Bhojpuri singer Neha Rathore sang “UP Mein Kaa Baa” taking a swipe at BJP’s development narrative, she was countered by BJP’s Gorakhpur MP and Bhojpuri superstar Ravi Kishan, who sang “UP mein Sab Ba”, underlining the welfare initiatives of the Yogi government. Hindi poetess Anamika Jain Amber also released “UP mein Baba Hai” in Bundelkhandi, yet again taking on Rathore’s portrayal of the Yogi government.

In Uttarakhand, BJP utilised new Bollywood singer Jubin Nautiyal, who sang the party’s theme song “Jahan Pawan Bahe Sankalp Liye, Jahan Parbat Garv Sikhate Hain, with the video depicting Modi’s “pilgrimages” to the state. Nautiyal’s father Ram Sharan Nautiyal is the BJP nominee from Chakrata assembly constituency in Uttarakhand.

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