Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party released the song on Twitter. (File)
If it worked in Bengal, it might just work in Uttar Pradesh - at least that's what Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party seems to be thinking as it released a new election anthem on Friday to take on Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the BJP for polls due in less than three months.
And so, the viral 'Khela Hobe' tune that played its part in helping Mamata Banerjee return to power for the third time in West Bengal and trounce the unmitigated might of the BJP, has become 'Khadeda Hoibe' in the Samajwadi Party's version.
With a mix of Awadhi and Bhojpuri, the song has been designed to appeal to central and eastern UP voters - the same strategy used by the BJP for its campaign two months ago. 'Khadeda Hoibe' roughly translates to 'be chased out'.
The BJP song, sung by the party's own singer-actor-politician Nirahua, has become the BJP anthem for Yogi Adityanath ahead of the polls and makes its presence felt in all rallies.
Akhilesh Yadav has been using the same slogan at his rallies for about a month now and because it generates a good response, the party think tank also decided to make a song around it.
The Samajwadi theme song follows the launch of a perfume with the party's election symbol on it. Called "Samajwadi Sugandh" or "Attar", a Samajwadi legislator who also runs a perfume business crafted it in Kannauj district, known for its fragrance industry.
Expected to be held in late February or March, before the term of the UP assembly expires on May 14, the state elections are expected to be a no-holds-barred fight between the ruling BJP and the Samajwadi Party and other players like Mayawati's BSP, Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party.
With 403 seats in the assembly, a party or coalition needs 202 seats for a majority in the country's largest and politically most significant state. In the 2017 UP assembly elections, the BJP had won 312 seats and has pledged to repeat the performance "at all costs".