“Captain ji, Captain ji, tumne khodi apni izzat, jitni thi bachi (captain, you have lost the little respect you had),” sings Dilip Pandey, the Delhi convenor for the Aam Aadmi Party, leading a chorus in a video posted to the party’s Facebook page. The song, a dig at Amarinder Singh, the Congress’s chief minister candidate in the Punjab assembly elections, held on February 4, is sung to the tune of the song Main Chali Main Chali from the Hindi film Padosan (via indie-pop band Bombay Vikings’s 2000 cover titled Woh Chali).
“Meet Badal or play with Sidhu, but don’t label the tigers of Punjab terrorists,” Pandey sings as images of headlines about AAP’s plans during the elections are brought up on screen.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvinder Kejriwal and Singh have been feuding since December. In a battle on twitter in January, Singh called Kejriwal “a sneaky fellow” after the latter claimed he had received a lot of support in Patiala, the Congress leader’s home constituency.
In December, they feuded after Singh alleged there was an underhand deal between the AAP and the Akali Dal.
Clearly, there is little room for nuance, when pop music and twitter is used to bolster political campaigns.
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