Songs, videos replace slogans of political parties in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow: Slogans that used to be an integral part of any election, are dying a slow death in Uttar Pradesh. The onslaught of the social media and use of technology in campaigning has edged out slogans in elections.

The Samajwadi Party, for instance, is no longer using its popular slogan "Jiska jalwa kayam hai, uska naam Mulayam hai".  This has been replaced by a song "Man se hai Mulayam", sung by Javed Ali.

“Slogans had an infectious quality of catching on. Even the kids would play around shouting slogans and making them immensely popular. This new trend of song is beyond my comprehension,” said a veteran SP leader.

The BSP has also forgotten its popular slogans which said, "Dilli ki majboori hai, Mayawati zaroori hai, Baba tera mission adhura, Mayawati karengi poora  and Chalega haathi, udegi dhool, na rahega panja na rahega phool". The party seems unduly cautious with its new tag line "Sarvjan Sukhaye, Sarvjan Hitya" that lacks the punch and zing of its earlier slogans.

The BJP that rode to power on the strength of "Ram Lalla hum aayenge, Mandir wahin banayenge" in the nineties and then switched to "Sabko dekha baar baar, humko dekho ek baar" has now turned its campaign from being party-centric to Modi-centric.

After the controversy of "Har Har Modi" the party is being extra cautious and is focusing on "Abki baar, Modi sarkar".
“This slogan doesn’t have the quality to enthuse party workers. "We have been asked not to coin slogans ourselves and this has dampened the party’s campaigning on the ground level,” said a former BJP minister.

The Congress, perhaps, wary of getting negative publicity, has quietly pushed aside "Congress ka haath, aam aadmi ke saath"  and is focusing on the "Yuva Soch, Yuva Josh".

“We cannot continue with 'Congress ka haath, aam aadmi ke saath' since people could mistake it for the AAP. With technology taking over, the focus has shifted to the audio-visual medium,” said a leader.