BY BINITA DAS
Kolkata, May 5 (IANS) Something that is music to the ears for some political parties in West Bengal, is noise for another. The political battle will continue till May 23 with the party or parties striking the right notes at the all India level ending up in the hot seat of power.
Even in the context of campaign songs and music videos, it is a head on fight between state’s ruling Trinamool Congress and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party which is trying its best to improve the Lotus bloom in the state.
Parties are aiming to be in tune with the electorate for the 42 seats in the state.
Compositions churned out by the Trinamool clan subtly appeal to the young voters, women and people at large, marking the achievements of its government in the state, while highlighting the failures of the present Central government.
Be it their new theme song “Ma Maati Maanush” or the latest video “Maayer Niti”, both highlight women empowerment while warning the people of “Hrinsho haana haanir Rajneeti, Gota deshe Maanobota Kaandche” (humanity is crying throughout the country due to the politics of violence).
Without ever mentioning the BJP or taking a jibe at any leader, the lyrics indirectly mention “Ora kotha diye raakheni kotha, mukhe boro boro guli ajotha” that means they (central government) haven’t fulfilled their words and makes empty promises.
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On the other hand, Union Minister and popular Bollywood singer Babul Supriyo was more direct in the song “Phutbe ebar Padma phool, Bangla Charo Trinamool” (Trinamool leave Bengal, lotus will bloom).
A glimpse of BJP’s theme song composed by him became an internet sensation but the viewers’ madness landed the song in a soup as it was circulated without obtaining pre-certification from the Election Commission. Despite the EC’s objection it was heard in major rallies.
“As the song created a stir, it has served its purpose. The incidents like Sharada, Narada, Rose Valley (all scams) has happened in front of the people and they know it. Hence, we have directly used it,” BJP National Secretary Rahul Sinha told IANS.
He said that the people of Bengal now know that in order ‘to remove this government with a negative record’ BJP should grow more in the state.
The lyrics have been infused with a great dose of foot-tapping music.
Explaining the brainstorming involved in the making of videos, one of the co-conveners of Trinamool’s social media cell, colonel (retd) Diptangshu Chowdhury said: “Abhishek Banerjee is heading the social media team but the ideas are generated by entire team including Derek O’Bruen and myself. Many ideas specially the song came from the Chief Minister and all are very happy with the response.”
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Chowdhury, an ex-army man, said they have kept their “focus on issues from demonetisation to unemployment”. He mentioned that experts take care of the creations.
“If one observes the campaign strategy, both Trinamool and BJP are at times offensive and other times defensive. If one is trying to highlight their work then the other is talking about corruption and offering people an alternative. Nothing can beat music in reaching out,” Political analyst Bimal Shankar Nanda said.
Bengal unit of the Congress has been highlighting its main theme song “Main hi toh Hindustan hoon” composed at the national level. They have also shared some videos in the vernacular language to connect with the Bengali voters.
In their compositions Bengal’s grand old party CPI(M) talk about real people and their plight under the hashtag ‘Vote4Left’.
