As the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) kicks off its campaign for the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has highlighted a potent new element in political messaging: campaign songs laced with local dialects, caste references, and aggressive undertones. During a rally in Samastipur, Modi asserted that the Opposition’s musical campaigns were stirring up unsettling memories of the ‘jungle raj’ era. He specifically cited Opposition songs that he claimed invoked images of firearms and threats of violence, suggesting this was a prelude to a return to lawlessness if they gain power.
Modi pointed to a viral Magahi track, “Bhaiya ke aave de satta mein, utha leb ghar se re…,” as an example of the Opposition’s fear-mongering tactics. Following his remarks, leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (United) echoed these concerns, warning voters about the potential resurgence of past disorder. Bihar’s political landscape has long utilized music, but the 2025 election cycle sees an explosion of popular Bhojpuri and Magahi songs released by local artists. These tracks, widely shared across platforms like YouTube, Meta, and Instagram, often contain caste-specific messaging, direct jabs at rivals, or veiled threats. While many are implicitly or explicitly linked to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the party has maintained that these are not official campaign anthems and the singers are not party members. Nevertheless, songs such as Gandhi Lal Yadav’s “bhaiya ke aave de satta, utha lebau ghar se re…,” Amit Aashiq’s “RJD sarkar banto Yadav rangdaar banto…,” Mithilesh Halchal’s “Lalu ji ke laalten, Tejashwi ji ke tel…,” and Roshan Rohi’s “Ban jo chhaudi Tejashwi Yadav ke jaan…” have gained significant traction, often appearing at pro-RJD events. Even prominent figures like Khesari Lal Yadav have released tracks supporting Tejashwi Yadav’s campaign. The trend highlights a shift towards music as a primary vehicle for political messaging, with implications for voter perception and election outcomes. Political observers are divided on the impact, with some seeing it as a strategic move by the BJP to leverage past fears, while others view the songs as mere entertainment that voters don’t directly translate into voting decisions. Given the significant youth demographic that did not experience the earlier ‘jungle raj’ firsthand, these fear-coded songs could be an attempt to shape their perception of the past and influence their future choices.