As his high hopes to become Chief Minister of Bihar dashed to the ground, if you believe Tejashwi Yadav, some singers made him lose the Bihar Assembly election with their unsolicited, provocative and unmusical songs.
As the RJD suffered a resounding electoral defeat in Bihar, finishing with only 25 seats, the party has issued show-cause notices to as many as 32 singers, holding them responsible for deliberately singing provocative songs that further maligned the image of the RJD and Tejashwi Yadav. The party is mulling legal action against them.
“They sang in a manner that appeared as if they were supporting the RJD, but in reality, they were doing the exact opposite. They were singing that once the RJD came to power in Bihar, its supporters would have a free hand to shoot and scoot, indulge in extortion, and so on. This was done to create fear among the people. These singers were spreading such content at the instructions of the BJP. They have used the name of our party and leader without our permission,” said a senior RJD leader who did not wish to be named.
However, the leader had no answer as to why neither Tejashwi Yadav, who was confident of becoming CM of Bihar this time, nor the RJD took any action, such as lodging complaints with the Election Commission of India or with the police, against these singers or their songs. When asked further about the extent to which music alone was responsible for the defeat, the leader ducked the pointed question and said, “Samiksha chal raha hai (the review is going on).”
If you are wondering what these cacophonic songs and ear-jangling singers going viral in Bihar are, there are several raunchy numbers, such as “Aayegi bhaiya ki sarkar, banenge rangdaar” (When brother’s, Tejashwi’s, government comes, we will become extortionists).
And this is not the only one of its kind, for there are endless jingles and parodies that make both music and democracy a mockery. Sample this: “6 tho goli maarab kapaare mein” (I will fire six bullets into your head) and “Sixer ke chhau goli chaati mein” (I will fire six bullets into the chest). There are more vile numbers, horribly intimidating, full of immodesty, and completely unacceptable. For instance: “RJD ke maal hai re” (This woman is RJD’s property, you know) and “Ban jo chhauri Tejashwi Yadav ke jaan” (Hey girl, become the darling of Tejashwi Yadav).”
And who are they? Most of them are Bhojpuri singers, Tuntun Yadav, Amit Aashik, Guddu Rangila, Pramod Yadav and others, who even get space on the RJD’s political stage to belt out their vulgar and uncivil performances. The Bhojpuri music industry today is known less for music and more for noise, more for recklessness and less for resonance, filled with the sexy, the filthy, and the uncouth.
Also read: RJD calls Bihar loss part of ‘endless public service journey’
After all, the BJP-led NDA had framed this election as Mangal Raj (good governance) of the NDA versus Jungle Raj (rule of anarchy) of the RJD. After all, the Nitish Kumar government had salvaged Bihar from the trauma of 15 years of misrule under the Lalu Yadav–Rabri Devi regime and delivered good governance, development, and the establishment of the rule of law. The BJP seized the opportunity to convince people that the return of the RJD means the return of the dreaded Jungle Raj and the same lawlessness that made Bihar highly unsafe, as these songs clearly manifest the intent of Tejashwi Yadav.
In rally after rally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit the point that a single vote for RJD means supporting Katta Sarkar (gun-wielding government), and in one of the rallies, Modi even quoted a line of that song. Tejashwi Yadav tried his best to deflect and blunt the Jungle Raj narrative, and at one point in time, the pictures of his parents, former CM Lalu Yadav and Rabri Devi, went missing from party banners and posters.
But there is a strong sentiment running against Tejashwi within the party. Many said that they found it strange for a political party to hold singers accountable for an electoral loss instead of reviewing its policies, fixing accountability, and finding and finishing rebels and black sheep within the party who engaged in foul play.
“Tejashwi ji means to say that he did not know his name, as well as that of the party, is used in vulgar and provocative songs by some singers. And he wants us to believe that? Such things never happen without support,” said a senior party leader.
“It was a very bad idea of an unsound mind to polarise core voters. Tejashwi appointed people with a radical mindset as spokespersons who had no idea of Bihar. They just created caste hatred. Tejashwi ji thinks asking Rahul Gandhi to jump in a pond and catch fish can catch good votes for the alliance,” the leader said.
“Khot Tejashwi mein hai aur dosh gaane-bajaane waalon ko dete hain” (The fault lies in Tejashwi, yet they blame the singers), the leader said.
Tejashwi loved that music till it made him cry.
By Vijay Deo Jha
Follow us
