Youth – that?s what seems to be motivating every party?s campaign. With popular film songs, Rahman?s Jai Ho! anthem or the internet, every party is trying to lure youngsters into voting by using tools familiar to them.
Most Congress leaders are downloading the campaign song Jai Ho! as their caller tunes. The tune is the same, but the lyrics have been tweaked to emphasise changes the party has brought in the past five years of governance. Also, there?s a one-minute campaign on YouTube, and the visitors on the website are increasing everyday.
While the Congress is trying to capture voters through its Jai Ho! catchphrase, the BJP is also singing a merry tune. It?s gone a step ahead and created a parody of it. It?s called Bhay Ho (let fear prevail!). As per reports, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi?s speeches are being set to Gujarati folk tunes and being offered as ringtones to mobile subscribers.
The IT cell of the Gujarat unit of the BJP has been busy choosing the right folk tune to match the excerpts being selected from Modi?s speeches before making them available in the ?download section? of the party?s Gujarat unit website.
Apart from popular-song campaigns, there are a lot of politicians who are even carrying a tune to strike the right chord with voters. The Congress candidate from the Jalpaiguri seat in West Bengal is wooing voters with the traditional Bengali folk music form of Bhawaiya, as per agency reports.
The Election Commission?s ?Pappu can?t vote? campaign, a spin-off from the song ?Pappu can?t dance? from the film Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na, during last year?s assembly elections generated a lot of interest. After its successful ?Pappu? campaign to attract voters during the Delhi assembly elections last year, the Election Commission was planning another catchy campaign to woo the voters using the song
?Socha nahin to Socho abhi? from Rock On! but it proved to be an expensive deal (cost almost Rs 25 lakh).
Thus, it has now opted for the song ?Dance pe chance mar le? from Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, said Delhi chief electoral officer Satbir Silas Bedi. Instead of the original lyrics, the song will now go as ?Pappu vote dal le? to stick to the Pappu campaign.
Though the last day for voter registration is over, before the first phase of the Indian Political League, the campaign from the EC was out.
The Jaago Re campaign was launched six months ago and the website http://www.jaagore.com helped people get their names on to the voters list. Around 4,50,000 youth across the country registered with the site. A Bangalore rock band, Thermal and A Quarter, launched a campaign to ?wake up? the youth, asking them to ?Shut Up and Vote?. The band travelled to five cities to spread the word. Thermal and A Quarter was roped in by Tata Tea, which sponsors the ?Jaago Re (Wake up)! One Billion Votes? campaign and Bangalore-based NGO Janaagraha. Will songs lead 18-year-olds to the voting booths? We will have to wait and see.