NEW DELHI: Apart from the trademark sops and promises, political parties have come up with campaign songs or jingles, themes and catchy slogans in a bid to win over the people ahead of the Assembly elections.However, while the Congress and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have launched their official campaign jingles, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is yet to come up with one, said the party’s Delhi media-in-charge Pratyush Kanth.
Composed by music director Vishal Dadlani, AAP’s campaign jingle ‘Lage Raho Kejriwal’ has already taken the social media by storm. The number is among the top trends on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, as it is being liked and shared by netizens. The jingle is not only being used at the party’s roadshows but has also become its campaign pitch this poll season. At the launch of the song, senior AAP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had said the jingle would eventually turn out to be the “voice of the people”. AAP national secretary Pankaj Gupta said that the song is an encapsulation of the party’s accomplishments and its poll promises. The catchy number also sets the tone during padyatras (rallies) and public meetings, the AAP leader said.
“Our jingle for the last election was ‘Paanch saal, Kejriwal’, as we went into campaign asking voters to give us an absolute majority and five years in power. They gave us a resounding mandate. When we hit campaign for the polls this year, many said we are doing good work. Our campaign jingle will serve as a reminder to voters to what we have accomplished over the last five years,” Gupta said.“The idea behind the song is to remind voters of what we’ve done and what we want to do, if voted back. In a way, the song is a campaign speech. While other parties rehash their old manifestos, we’re asking for votes on performance,” Gupta said.
Seeking to regain its lost footing on Delhi’s political landscape, the Congress, through its campaign jingle, is seeking to remind voters of the ‘development’ it brought to the city during its 15-year rule under former chief minister Sheila Dikshit. The song, ‘Phir Se Congress Wali Dilli’ highlights the party’s achievements — building roads, flyovers and education infrastructure and boosting health and Metro connectivity — during its tenure.
The Congress has built its poll campaign around Dikshit’s ‘strong legacy’ and its assessment of the city’s poll pulse from social media posts, said the party’s social media chief Rohan Gupta.“The feedback we received from our workers and voters was that the people were happier under Congress rule. They still believe that the city saw true development when we were in power. We’re also focusing on organisation. We need a team, not an individual for Delhi’s development,” Gupta said.
Abhishek Dutt, who is the Congress’s pick from Kasturba Nagar, has put out issue-based videos on social media. He said the videos are aimed at making the voters realise the importance of each vote and how it could make a difference to local area development.Independents aren’t laggards in the jingle trend either. Vikas Sharma, an Independent candidate from New Delhi constituency, has released a video of interviewees saying “Vikas would replace Kejriwal” and “Apna Vikas Sabka Vikas (Our Vikas will bring development for all)”.
While the BJP hasn’t released an official campaign jingle as yet, its Hari Nagar nominee Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga’s campaign rap ‘Bagga, Bagga Har Jagah’, which highlights a range of issues — from the Nirbhaya rape and murder case, Kashmir to nationalism — drew censure from the Election Commission. The poll panel served him a notice, seeking an explanation on why the money spent on making the song wasn’t added to his poll expenses.