The Delhi political arena has seen many stars trying to swing votes for their party of choice in the past years. But now, what is new is that singers have joined the party. Usually wary of being seen as supporting one particular party over another - after all, they don't wield any great star power and have to travel around cities, big and small, for gigs, and can therefore use the goodwill of as many politicians as possible - this is the first time that a concert is being held to campaign for votes in Delhi. What's not a first, though, is getting famous names to add some glitter to the hard political grit. Past elections in Delhi have seen many starry involvements, the most famous being by the late Rajesh Khanna, who is credited for almost annihilating LK Advani's career. Khanna, who was fighting with a Congress ticket for the New Delhi seat in the 1991 Lok Sabha elections, lost by a narrow margin to Advani, even while refusing to accept the results.
Kaka's dreams of becoming an MP were fullfiled, though, when he won in a byelection after Advani gave up his seat, defeating BJP opponent and fellow-actor Shatrughan Sinha. Estranged wife Dimple, and their then-actress daughter Twinkle, too, had campaigned by his side. In 2004, TV's biggest star, Smriti Irani aka Tulsi Virani, had stood with a BJP ticket against Kapil Sibal in the Lok Sabha elections from the Chandni Chowk constituency. Though she lost, she went on to become a star campaigner and a very visible face of the party. More recently, Bhojpuri superstar Manoj Tiwari has been inducted into BJP ahead of the upcoming Delhi assembly polls to impress over 30 lakh Purvanchali voters. Then there have been the not-so-starry campaigners, such as Mahima Chaudhry and Daler Mehndi for the Congress in the MCD polls last year, or the AAP fielding Mahabharat's Bheem - actor Praveen Kumar - from Wazirpur for the Delhi assembly polls this year.
But the choice of a concert is also an obvious one by the AAP. At the height of the Anna Hazare movement, Vishal Dadlani and Raghu Ram were two of the most vocal voices from showbusiness to join Hazare's India Against Corruption movement. Anna topis and Tricolours in place, they had joined the waves of protestors agitating against Hazare's arrest at Mumbai's Azad Maidan, as Dadlani sang Yeh Desh Hai Veer Jawaanon Ka and Rang De Basanti to keep the heat on. "Just back from Azad Maidan. Didn't get arrested today. Will try again tomorrow, and everyday, until Anna is released. Where were you guys?" Dadlani had tweeted. Raghu Ram, that 'youth icon' for whom many Roadies fanatics would stand on their heads if he so demanded, had stated, "I'm always ready to support those who can give politicians a headache." Dadlani had participated in multiple protests, including at Delhi's Jantar Mantar, where Rabbi Shergill had also joined in.
For a movement and its political off-shoot whose main target base is the youth, roping in musicians is natural even if it's been unheard of in Delhi politics till now. It's not so unheard of otherwise, though - if Beyonce, Katy Perry, Jon Bon Jovi, Stevie Wonder and Alicia Keys can sing to make young fans listen to Obama asking for votes, why can't our homegrown musicians? Names like Vishal Dadlani, Shilpa Rao, Rabbi Shergill, Shruti Pathak and Meiyang Chang are regulars at college fests, the usual hotbed for middle-finger-to-the-establishment music and sentiment. Getting them to croon for their cause, then, is an extension of the whole revolution-for-the-youth-by-the-youth thing. Will angry drum-rolls, fired up lyrics, purposeful headbangs and satan handsigns, and a screaming Dadlani swing it?
