The peppy beat of Sri Lankan singer Yohani de Silva’s “Menike Maga Hithe”, which had taken the Indian music scene by storm, has been adapted by the ruling BJP in important local elections in the country's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh as its campaign song. 

The song had grabbed the attention of superstar Amitabh Bachan and once it did that, other celebrities from Salman Khan to Madhuri Dixit, got hooked to it.  While some used the viral song as background music for videos or simply hummed it while driving, others were seen dancing to its peppy beat in Instagram videos. 

Yohani went on to become a rage and has sung the title song of the forthcoming Bollywood film “Shiddat”.

Translated into several languages, including in Hindi, its music has been used for the ruling BJP of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in its campaign propaganda in the state of 220 million people that is going to the polls next month. Being widely shared by party leaders, the campaign song opens to foot-tapping music and lyrics that start with “janata hai janardan (people are gods)” and goads the voters to remember the party’s symbol 'lotus' while going to vote, according to the Hindustan Times. 

(SAM)