‘Kejriwal Dances, Rahul Gandhi Frowns’: AAP Posts ‘Mast Kalandar’ Video on Punjab CM Face Bhagwant Mann

As the campaigning for the Punjab assembly election turns fiercer, the Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday found a unique way to promote Bhagwant Mann, its chief ministerial candidate for the state.

The party had netizens in splits as it posted a hilarious video on its official Twitter profile on Tuesday.

It the song ‘Mast Kalandar’ starring Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh and Vidya Balan from the 2007 film, Heyy Babyy. The faces of the actors have been swapped with those of Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, PCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann. Vidya Balan’s character in the clip represents the chief minister’s chair.

The 38-second video went viral soon after being posted and had over 3.94 lakh views at the time of writing this article.

The AAP has returned to its ‘default CM face choice’ in Mann, backed by a public referendum with nearly 22 lakh callers, after a futile search for six months did not yield any credible face. The party does not want to repeat its mistake of 2017 of not going with any CM face, which it feels had costed it the election. After the 2017 polls, Mann was appointed AAP’s state president.

In UP, too, a musical war has broken out between political parties which are resorting to catchy campaign songs to promote their policies and ideologies. The Election Commission has imposed restrictions on poll rallies till January 22 in the wake of rising COVID-19 cases in the five poll-going states.

After the BJP, Congress and Samajwadi Party, the Aam Aadmi Party too has released its theme song for the elections. Although, the custom of resorting to songs during elections is old, with the campaign going virtual due to the Covid pandemic, the competition among parties to grab the attention of voters has only intensified.

While the ruling BJP refers to the party’s Hindutva pride and the “development” done under the Yogi Adityanath government, the opposition Samajwadi Party echoes the socialist sentiments and the achievements of the previous government led by Akhilesh Yadav. BJP MPs and Bhojpuri actors Ravi Kishan and Manoj Tiwari have come out with various songs and some more are in the pipeline.

Among these, ‘damru jab bajega to dekhna nazara kya hoga’ — apparently referring to the damru of lord Shiva is quite popular while similar songs like jo Ram ko laye haye, hum unko layenge’ (those who have brought lord Ram, we will bring them to power) and mandir banne laga hai, bhagwa rang chadhne laga hai’ (construction of temple has begun, saffron colour is on the rise) are testament to BJP leveraging on the upcoming Ram temple in Ayodhya. The Election Commission has banned election rallies and meetings till January 22. In such a situation, BJP wants to make a place in the hearts and minds of voters through songs. The party will take these songs to every voter through its social media team,” BJP’s state media in-charge Manish Dixit told PTI.

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