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In UK, Conservative Party’s poll video features PM Modi to woo Indian voters
Ahead of British general election on December 12, the Conservative party has released a video ‘Boris ko hamein jitana hai’, set to a song with lyrics in Hindi and images of Modi and the Indian high commissioner, Ruchi Ghanashyam, among others.
It was a first in the 2015 election, repeated in 2017, but now, producing a video in Hindi with images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi before a British election to woo Indian votes, has become a new normal for the Conservative party: a new one is out before Thursday’s poll.
The 2015 initiative was undertaken under the leadership of David Cameron, who assiduously courted the 1.5 million-strong community since becoming the Conservative leader in 2005 and later as prime minister from 2010. His successor, Theresa May, also released a video in 2017.
‘Boris ko hamein jitana hai’, says the latest video, set to a song with lyrics in Hindi and images of Modi and the Indian high commissioner, Ruchi Ghanashyam, among others. The Conservative party has been ideologically and otherwise closer to the BJP in recent years.
Benefiting from ennui over Labour’s stance on Kashmir, the Conservative party and Prime Minister Boris Johnson have been hitting the right buttons for the increasingly assertive community, visiting temples and promising easier visa norms before the elections.
Senior Labour leaders of Indian origin such as Virendra Sharma dismiss the idea that voters of Indian origin would be swayed by Conservative videos in Hindi, while others wonder if it is in India’s interest to be so closely identified with one British party.
The Conservative party’s 1.40-minute video evoked mixed reactions on social media – cringeworthy, indifferent, enthusiastic – but highlights the growing significance of the British Indian vote. No such mainstream focus is evident in any other diaspora community in the UK.
Labour has traditionally been the recipient of support from the Indian community, but has been haemorrhaging votes to the Conservatives in recent elections, particularly from third generation professional and aspirational UK-born and educated sections.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn comes in for special mention in the video. He has been under fire from sections in the community and his party for its Kashmir position as well as for nominating a non-Indian candidate in its stronghold of Leicester East, which was held by Keith Vaz for 32 years.
The political lyrics of the latest video are:
‘Jago, jago, jago; chunao phir se aya hai
Boris ko hamein jitana hai
Is desh ko aj bachana hai, kuch karke hamain dikhana hai
To vote karo for, Boris Johnson,
Britain ke PM banenge, Boris Johnson, Boris Johnson
Voh karobar badhayenge, bachchon ka bhavi banayenge
Aur salamati ko badhayenge, NHS ko bhi bachayenge
Brexit ko bhi suljhana hai, Boris ko PM banana hai
To vote karo for, Boris Johnson
Britain ke PM banenge, Boris Johnson, Boris Johnson
Corbyn ko tum pehchano, jo jhoothe vade karte hai
Voh chehre pe chehra laga ke, barbadi hi karte hai
In logon ko bhagana hai, Boris ko PM banana hai
To vote karo for, Boris Johnson
Britain ke PM banenge, Boris Johnson, Boris Johnson
