Lok Sabha elections 2019- Poll music: The election is a song and dance for parties

Want to enjoy some live music? You needn’t go too far. Just head to a nearby election rally. This election season, with actors and singers in the fray, rallies are turning into impromptu music concerts with contestants using the medium to get their message across and strike the right chord with voters.

When Punjabi singer Hans Raj Hans, the BJP’s North West Delhi candidate, attended his first public gathering in Rohini, he was inundated with requests for songs. He obliged and performed three songs back-to-back – “Dil Chori Sada Ho Gaya”, a track from one of his Punjabi pop albums, followed by his own cover version of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s “Akhiyan Udeek Diya” and “Dil Tote Tote Ho Gaya” from a Hindi movie Bichhoo.

The only difference is the songs were improvised to include Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name. For instance, Dil Chori Sada Ho Gaya became Dil Modi Modi Ho Gaya. “Such improvisations are spontaneous,” says Hans. “I experimented with the Modi Modi version for the first time in Rohini. People loved it. Now, they request me for Dil Modi Modi Ho Gaya and most people do not identify the song by its original title,” he says.

Prem, 15, who was present at the Rohini gathering, said, “I have seen him [Hans] perform on TV. My uncle is his fan. Today I saw him live for the first time. So what if I am not a voter yet?”. As he spoke, his uncle sitting next him screamed out loud, requesting for songs.

But when it comes to improvisation on stage, the BJP’s North East Delhi candidate, popular Bhojpuri actor-singer Manoj Tiwari, seems to outperform others. Tiwari, who had sung the BJP’s campaign song for Delhi, “Bhajpa Dil Mein, Bhajpa Dilli mein”, before the 2017 municipal elections, tweaks old patriotic numbers from Hindi movies.

While Tiwari has seldom shied away from performing his own compositions such as “Rinkiya Ke Papa” (a Bhojpuri track) in earlier election campaigns, this year he has been frequently repeating an improvised version of a song (from the Hindi movie Karma), “Dil diya hain jaan bhi denge aye watan tere liye”, replacing “Watan” with “Uttar-Purvi Dilli.”

Tiwari is at times accompanied by DJs, who have a playlist of their own. Occasionally, the DJs insert quick one liners such as “Baki sab bakwas, Modi sab se khaas hain”, attempting to emulate a rhythm-and-poetry style.

“These songs sound great as long as the tempo is not disrupted, said Shyam Kapoor, who was present at Tiwari’s public meeting in Seelampur last week.

On its part, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has come up with a new composition – “Poorn-Raj” – based on the party’s full statehood plank. The song was composed and sung by the party’s North East Delhi candidate Dilip Pandey, a computer engineer who identifies himself as a “poet-politician”.

“It was an exciting experience. Recently, the song was played in two weddings. People danced a lot,” said Jeetendra, an AAP worker, who was part of the song’s chorus.

In local campaigns, this theme track is followed by a fixed playlist that consists of songs such as A R Rahman’s version of Vande Mataram , Rang De Basanti Chola from one of the Bhagat Singh remakes and another track from the popular Sunny Deol-starred “Indian” (2001).

“All these songs were included on popular demand,” said Sandeep Kumar, an AAP worker who helps arrange sound systems for campaigns.

At times, one can also get to hear “Paanch Saal Kejriwal”, the 2015 Delhi assembly campaign song of the party composed by musician Vishal Dadlani, who is an AAP supporter.

Pandey said Dadlani was the party’s first choice this year but he had a packed schedule. “So, I asked for some time from the top leadership and recorded the track at a studio in Ghaziabad,” he said.

But in Arvind Kejriwal’s roadshows, it is often complemented with the popular Naagin track – a must on the playlist of wedding bands, especially the version with a faster tempo popularised in 2008 by an Indian rock band.

Also in AAP’s playlist is South Delhi candidate Raghav Chadha’s improvised version of the popular Gully Boy track, Apna Time Ayega. “The song was initially a social media thing but in no time it became very popular and people wanted it in the rallies and roadshow, both small and big,” said Azghar Zaidi, the producer of the video for Chadha’s campaign.

In its choice of music, the Congress has stuck largely to dhols (drums) and traditional Indian percussion instruments. The party is also relying on the “Ab Hoga Nyay” song, penned by lyricist Javed Akhtar, with a few exceptions such as the party’s West Delhi candidate Mahabal Mishra who has used a few popular Bhojpuri songs in his campaigns to appeal to fellow purvanchalis.

“In our campaigns, other than the theme song (Nyay), patriotic numbers are a major hit,” said Rohit Diwan, one of Congress’ campaign coordinators. Among the most popular, he listed two – “Aye Watan Tere Liye” [from Karma] and “Bharat Humko Jaan Se Pyara Hain” from the 1992 movie Roja.

Then there are tit for tat numbers. After the Congress released the “Ab Hoga Nyay” song last month, the BJP released its “Phir ek baar Modi sarkaar”, in which it attacked the Congress Nyay programme. The BJP has made it a point to play this song in all major BJP campaigns in Delhi, including public gatherings of president Amit Shah in South Delhi’s Vasant Kunj and Rajnath Singh in North-East Delhi’s Shastri Park.