MUMBAI: Music is a strong medium to express one’s feelings. It has been used to convey love, heartbreak, sadness, happiness and much more. However, little did we now it could be used as a medium to promote politics and political parties too. The current ruling party Bharatiya Janata Party is contesting to rule for the next five years too and this time it has taken the help of music to promote.
In 2014, when the party won by a majority, its tagline - Acche Din and Ab ki bar Modi Sarkar struck a strong chord with the audience. And this year, there are four such music related activities that has caught the attention. The party has recently released its official party theme, Phir Ek Baar Modi Sarkar. The track showcases work done by Modi Government in an effective manner. Composed by Pankaj Awasthi, the song is still picking and has not more than 5000 views. One of the main singers of this track Aman Trikha also recently sung the title track of Modi Biopic starring Vivek Oberoi.
It’s just not the party but some of the followers too have taken the musical route to express their support to PM Modi. Few days ago, once a rap sensation, Devang Patel who has sung songs like Meri Marzi, released a rap song on his YouTube channel. The rap song was shared by BJP’s social media handle too. The song got views of over 87000 and multiple shares. A song written by Vinay Dave speaks about the current political situation and the hook phrase says, Ayega Toh Modi Hi. The song has appealed to the younger generation.
Rahul Shewale, a Shiv-Sena candidate (alliance party for BJP in Maharashtra), also took the rap route to appeal to his Dharavi area public. Two young rappers Sanjay Nagpal and Jaffar Shah did live rapping in the dingy lanes of Dharavi and also are soon releasing a video of the rap song.
The new way to connect with the audience is beyond the usual TV and Print ads. The musical connection of BJP is stronger this year with Daler Mehndi joining the party. Babul Supriyo and Bappi Lahiri have already been part of BJP. While the former won and became a Member of Parliament, Bappi Lahiri lost from his constituency and chose not to contest this year. Lata Mangeshkar and Shankar Mahadevan have been vocal supporters of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister too.
It is for the first time, the connection between music and politics has been so strong. This, however, doesn’t guarantee victory and results May 23 will help us understand if this music was in sync with the public verdict. Till then, enjoy the songs!