Jai ha! campaign: BJP turns to Kaka Hathrasi’s satire

The party has come up with pithy little ditties based on contemporary political themes,one particular line — regarding a former Home Minister who seemed overly concerned with his wardrobe even in times of terror— was not passed by the Election Commission,which routinely goes through all such campaign material.

While the BJP met several ad firms for its campaign,it zeroed in on 45-year-old Nishit Sharan,for its radio jingles that are already being played on all FM stations in Delhi and the Hindi heartland. The BJP plans to introduce a different theme,depending on its topicality,every week.

The jingles end with the BJP’s slogan: “Mazboot Neta,Nirnayak Sarkar.” The first such piece trills about recession,instability and terrorism and notes that vegetables are being sold at the rate of sweets. The other poem on coalition politics and terrorism takes a dig at the Third Front. It also criticises the government for being soft on terror.

“The man on the street relates to Kaka Hathrasi’s style of narration. The message cuts through the clutter and reaches the audience. The poems also manage to express critiques but not in a rancorous way,” Sharan said.

Hathrasi,born as Prabhunath Garg in 1906 in the small Uttar Pradesh town of Hathras (close to Mathura),is credited for popularising Hindi satire. He died in 1995.

The jingles will be translated into the other regional languages and used for other states. Two jingles have been released; the third will be released soon.

For the radio spots produced by Sharan,the ditties have been sung by Shammi Narang a Delhi based voiceover artist who has also worked as Doordarshan newsreader.

Meanwhile,Sharan is also making a film for the BJP that will feature the entire NDA leadership. The video shoot for the film was done at the BJP headquarters and L K Advani’s residence recently. The film will be screened before all party public meetings across the country.

Incidentally,Sharan’s Utopia Consultancy (in Indore) has been associated with BJP’s election campaigns earlier too. Sharan had also worked with former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s re-election campaign of 2004.