By Tirthankar Mitra
KOLKATA: Be it the parched plains of Durgapur or the cool hills of Darjeeling, ongoing election campaign in West Bengal is swaying to the beat of song and dance. And if it is Billy Joel’s 1977 song “Trading a Chevvy for a Cadillac”, it is rap in the hills; the songs have cut across the ideological divide as none of the contestants are unwilling to use them to convey their poll pledges to the voters.
Folk songs are a mode of campaigning in the rural areas. At a time when disc jockies (DJ) are making their presence felt in the land of Rabindra Sangeet, band and tasha parties as well as dhak players who have been part and parcel of celebrations in this state over centuries have made a comeback in the ongoing dance for democracy.
Just as the Billy Joel number propagates a pursuit of upward mobility, it appears to echo Trinamool Congress nominee Kabi Dutta’s desire to break with his political past to win this South Bengal constituency. Like the policeman in the Joel number who dreams of polishing a Cadillac despite his broken back, Dutta aspires to wrest this seat from BJP’s Lakshman Ghorui who emerged victorious in 2021 Assembly polls with 46.31 per cent votes.
If the hard-working policeman was nursing a broken back, Dutta too has a political past which is a drag to his ambition. He was allegedly aligned with the CPI(M) before 2011.
Moreover, Dutta and Ghorui had once been close associates. But the TMC candidate is now close to the corridors of power to Nabanna, the blue and white painted state secretariat in Howrah.
The choice of the Joel number as his campaign song is an attempt to whitewash his political past. Small wonder, unlike many other TMC candidates, the high profile merchant who once headed a chamber of commerce wishes to portray himself as an “apolitical person” in the poll battle.
Political messaging has found place in rhymes and baselines as elections are unfolding in the Darjeeling hills. The beat is unmistakably rap.
The songs are often candidate specific. The trend is catching up.
Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) and Indian Gorkha Janshakti Front (IGJF) have both turned to rap. Their target audience is the Generation Z voters with the lyrics and politics being mixed and matched as one track after another is churned out.
A series of rap songs built around the theme paribartan (change) was set to tone first by IGJ F led by Ajoy Edwards. Anit Thapa-led BGPM is matching the tempo with its own set of tracks.
This has transformed the election in the hills to a full-blown sonic contest. The choice of rap is strategic as it is more relatable to the young voters.
Vans, both pick-up and small ones, fitted with large speakers, snake through the hills blasting campaign rap. It is more of a travelling musical show than an election campaign.
The inspiration to the musical poll campaign can be traced to neighbouring Nepal. Rapper turned politician Balen Shah has demonstrated the power of youth driven messaging.
Sun baked plains of Hooghly and Burdwan are listening to a new kind of campaigning which is a welcome change from the slogan shouting procession. These are tunes and rhythm of songs composed around the words and deeds of Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee.
Even if they are not quite music to the ears of the rural populace, no one is objecting. And there are song writers like P Subrata of Hooghly who have been penning songs when TMC was out in the wilderness in the early days of the stir against the proposed small car factory at Singur.
Folk songs accompanied by instrumental music has been the forte of the campaign of Left Front nominees in Bankura, Purulia, Birbhum. It is a call to the roots as well as an appeal to bring back a dispensation whose foot prints became extinct in legislative politics of West Bengal post 2021 Assembly election.
Dhaks, dhols, tasha and band parties are back at the centre stage of the ongoing election campaign in the rural areas. Instead of party activists, it is skilled artistes who are beating it up in rain or shine for an honorarium.
In their respective poll campaign , Nabin Chandra Bag at Khandaghosh in Burdwan (East) or Congress nominee of Burdwan (South) Gourab Samaddar lead racuous campaign parties. As the discordant tone of the “poll orchestra” draw near, one wonders whether this sound and fury will end in a whimper or a bang. (IPA Service)
