'Poll Dance' under Garb of Garba? BJP's 2024 Election Agenda Echoes in Mumbai's Navratri Festivities

At Garba celebrations across Mumbai during Navratri, revellers are used to dancing to “Pari Hoon Main” and “Gori Radha Ne Kalo Kaan”. But over the last ten days, at various such events across the city, chants of “Jai Shri Ram” and “Bharat Ka Baccha Baccha Jai Shri Ram Bolega” were heard.

These tracks have been a part of public events in the Hindi belt of Uttar Pradesh and adjoining states but hadn’t made much headway in Maharashtra and Gujarat. However, just ahead of the big election year, observers say messages are being conveyed subtly through community gatherings, targeted towards Hindus.

This was reported across Mumbai, be it at Rangratri- Dandiya Nights with Kinjal Dave, Prerna Raas Navratri, or Navratri Utsav with Falguni Pathak.

The LED screens at Garba venues also displayed images of the upcoming Ayodhya Ram Mandir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath. The songs being played during breaks hinted at the work done by Adityanath in UP. Among the numbers being played was “Babaji Aaye Hain…Santo Ki Nagari Ko Babaji Chalayenge”. For those present, it was a subtle way of portraying Modi and Yogi as the faces of Hindutva.

For the largely Gujarati crowd participating in the celebrations, tracks such as these were not part of their playlists. But these songs being played towards the end of performances or during breaks was a way of hooking them to their minds.

For most of the youngsters, the songs were inevitability stuck in their heads, even if they didn’t want that. Several youths were seen humming and dancing to the same tunes even after Navratri celebrations.

Youngsters who would be earlier seen humming Gujarati songs were seen chanting “Jai Shri Ram” at the end of the revelries.

“This year’s election agenda is pretty clear. The only thing that one can carry forward in the election year is the Ram Mandir inauguration. So, people have been given instructions to harp on that,” said a source privy to the BJP’s 2024 election plans.

Earlier, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) issued a diktat to make Aadhaar card mandatory for participants in Garba and Dandiya festivities during the nine-day Navratri festival in Maharashtra and other parts of India. VHP joint general secretary Surendra Jain had said, “Every individual participating in festival revelry should be subjected to thorough scrutiny to ascertain his/her Hindu identity.”