With five Assembly
elections approaching, it is the season of high-octane political campaigns.
However, pandemic curbs imposed by the Election Commission have dampened
spirits to an extent. With public rallies, outlawed, parties have struck upon a
new idea to rouse spirits: campaign songs.

Campaign music,
while used in Indian political processes for a long time, turned mainstream
within electoral dynamics last year during the West Bengal Assembly polls with “Khela
Hobe” (Let the games begin), the song used by the Trinamool Congress, went
viral overnight.

Now, having a
campaign song has become nearly mandatory. Here’s a list of the campaign songs
being used in the upcoming Assembly elections in five states:

“Khadeda
Hoibe”: In what can only
be described as an organic tribute to the popularity of “Khela Hobe”, the
Samajwadi Party, the principal challenger to the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government
in Uttar Pradesh, has made “Khade Hoibe” its musical war cry. “Khadeda Hoibe”
literally means “Will be chased out”.

“Yogi Hai Upyogi”:
In 2017, when the
BJP defeated the Samajwadi Party to wrest India’s biggest state, there was a
lot of confusion in the party before the monk from Gorakhpur was made chief
minister. This time, the BJP is fighting the polls with Yogi Adityanath at the
helm of the campaign.

“UP mein sab
ba”: The Bharatiya
Janata Party is the richest political party in the world. And yes, it also has
more than one campaign song. Celebrated Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan has come out
with the song “UP mein sab ba”, meaning, “UP has everything.”

“Punjab Di
Chardikala, Congress Mange Sarbat Da Bhala”: In Congress-ruled Punjab, confusion about will be CM
has existed for nearly the entire term. The song, which in English means, “Punjab
in spirits, Congress seeks welfare of all,” features CM Charanjit Singh Channi,
Navjot Singh Sidhu as well as Rahul Gandhi.

“Ik Mauka”: The Aam Admi Party’s campaign song has been described
as catchy by the internet. The complete title of the song is “Ik Mauka AAP nu,”
— one chance for AAP. Bhangra beats abound in this song about reduced gas
prices and electricity bills.

“Rang De
Basanti Chola”: Manoj Tiwari,
the famous Bhojpuri singer of “Rinkiya Ke Papa” fame has penned this song for
the BJP’s Punjab campaign. The song highlights the central government’s
Punjab-focussed policies.

Five states – Uttar
Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur – go to polls this month. While
every state will look to address its local issues through the elections, the
political implications of these polls are expected to be nationwide.