BSP minces no mucical notes against rivals

These songs were belted out one after another as BSP workers waited for their leader Mayawati to arrive at the rally ground on Sunday. The songs crooned by folk singers hailed Mayawati and took potshots at her rivals.

The venue had arranged a separate stage,a little further away from where main stage was set up,for the singers to perform. Singers complete with orchestra in place kept the audience enthralled with the political repartee in the songs.

The folk songs from Punjab and Haryana were altered to fit in Mayawati and the party. A singer modified the Punjabi folk song ‘Jaago’ and crooned,“Mazdoora jaag bai hun Mayawati aayi hai”.

Congress general secretary,who had recently courted arrest near Bhatta-Parsaul where farmers are demanding higher compensation for their acquired lands,was too made a target in the songs. Even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal were not spared.

Among the singers who performed today was Manjit Mehra,who has been singing exclusively for the party for the past 14 years. Mehra has written over 200 songs praising the party and its leaders Mayawati and Kanshiram. He holds the distinction of being the official singer of the party and has made the caller tune for the BSP.

Mehra,who hails from Rohtak in Haryana,says that he was deeply influenced by the message that Mayawati and earlier Kanshiram propagated. “After hearing them I felt inspired to work for the people. I have performed at many venues where the rallies have been held. My family was initially apprehensive of the line I chose,but now they are at peace with it. I am a radio and TV artist also,” he says.

His songs equate Mayawati to a goddess. The other songs that were sung propagated the idea of Mayawati becoming the Prime Minister of the country. A singer crooned that in UP,children demands elephant from their fathers as gift so that they can tour the country and find the path to political centrestage — “Delhi”. The rustic language seemed to touch a chord with the people. What the leaders could not say onstage seemed to be conveyed through the songs. Songs highlighting what Mayawati would do after she becomes the PM was sung. While the singers were interrupted repeatedly by BSP leaders trying to making several announcements,it did not seem to matter.