The big electoral battle is on in Bihar. And you know it is seriously on when two of the heavyweights — Janta Dal (United) and Bharatiya Janata Party — release their election songs. (The JD(U), though, beat BJP to it by doing it weeks ahead.)

Amid heavy downpour all day, the BJP launched its election campaign in Patna yesterday. First, the song: “Is baar BJP, Ek baar BJP”.

Which reminds us a little of this song featuring Govinda. (We swear, listen carefully.)

Apart from curious lines like “hum hain Bihari, Bihar chahiyen”, the song mentions Prime Minister Narendra Modi (only once), and promises “chhat” over everyone’s head. The party got Bhojpuri singer and BJP Member of Parliament from East Delhi Manoj Tiwari to give the vocals in his first ever Hindi song.

“Ek baar BJP…” is, however, a late response to JD(U)’s song “Fir Se Nitishe”, which was launched by the party top brass on July 2.

“Fir Se Nitishe” was launched by state JD(U) President Vashistha Narayan Singh along with the “Har Ghar Dastak” campaign of the party.

While BJP had Tiwari, JD(U) got Sneha Khanwalkar to compose the music and Raj Shekhar (of Tanu Weds Manu fame) as lyricist. Neeti Mohan and Ghunghroo provided the vocals. Apart from Khanwalkar, who’s from Maharashtra, the rest three associated with the song are from Bihar. The use of the word “Nitishe” is strategic since in the colloquial language, it means “only Nitish”.

The JD(U) campaign

JD(U) has on its side Prashant Kishor spearheading its publicity campaign. Kishor had earlier helped Modi during the Lok Sabha elections and was the brain behind the “Chai Pe Charcha” campaign. “Phir Se Nitishe” was conceptualised after a two-and-a-half-month long research by professionals under Kishor.

Kishor’s “Har Ghar Dastak” campaign is somewhat similar to “Chai Pe Charcha” campaign. BJP till now has not come up with a counter attack. Notably, the blitzkrieg that’s come to be associated with BJP’s previous election campaigns seems to be missing in Bihar. While JD(U)’s campaign audios played on local FM stations on the day of the launch in Patna, the five-minute long “Is Baar BJP…” is for now being circulated only through WhatsApp groups. The song has not been shared over social media either by the BJP.

BJP’s big plans ahead

There is, however, another song in the offing — “Jai Bihar, Jai Jai Bihar” — which will talk about the rich heritage of the state and will mention Mahatma Gandhi’s anti-British movement in Champaran and Jayaprakash Narayan’s anti-Emergency movement. And, even Ashoka and the Mauryan empire. Talk about grand appropriation.

BJP sources claim the party has made four songs in Bhojpuri, Maithili, Magahi and Angika, which will be sung by regional artistes of Bihar.

Notably, Modi is expected to address an election meeting in Muzaffarpur on July 25 to attack the “Janta Parivar”. And the PM, like in the Delhi election, may be the star campaigner for BJP in Bihar. BJP is set to hold up to a 1,000 meetings in the state with Modi addressing at least a dozen.

Amit Shah, while officially kick starting the campaign yesterday, in the historic Gandhi Maidan, flagged off some 160 trucks with TV screens that will air speeches of Modi across the state. The vehicles are being called “Pariwartan Raths” (Chariots of Change). With 56-inch LED TVs, sound boxes and microphones, the “raths” will go to town with the development achievements of the Modi government.

One rath will cover one Vidhan Sabha at a time and local BJP workers will accompany the raths. Costing around Rs 1.5 lakh, according to party sources, the raths also have a GPS in place.

The BJP will also ask 25 questions to Nitish in every Vidhan Sabha through pamphlets and printed materials that will be distributed through these raths. Clearly, it is not over till it’s over.