BERHAMPUR: In a world torn by strife, it's music for music for poll candidates across panchayats in Ganjam district. With the three-tier panchayat election just days away, most candidates contesting polls here believe songs set to popular Odia lyrics are the most effective way to reach out to the masses.Songs set to Odia bhajans like 'Madhab he madhab Bhoka lagele keia abhada deba' as well as popular Odia and Hindi numbers like 'Balunga Toka', 'Sani marideal Jhain re dada Bhuli jana tu', 'tinkle tinle', etc are being used extensively to woo voters.The list doesn't end here. The race for the panchayati posts have given a fresh lease of life to traditional folk music like 'Gahani', 'Dasa Kathia' and 'Palla'."We have prepared the audio CDs for different candidates. While the candidates provide us with the lyrics, we tune them using our own singer and music director,"said K Satya Narayan Achary, a studio director. With the elections being held in rural areas, most candidates prefer folk songs to modern-day ones, he argued. "We do not set the lyrics of two rival candidates of the same ward to the same tune," he added."Besides preparing CDs for candidates bearing affiliation to parties like BJD, BJP and Congress, we also produce audio cassettes for independent candidates," said Y Nageswar Rao, assistant recordist of a studio.Corroborating this, Sd. Gulam Rasul, who owns a studio in the town, said, "Apart from songs, we also help come up with catchy slogans and speeches for the candidates. We had prepared a CD packed with songs, slogans and speeches for the candidates. The CD plays for around 30 minutes and is available for Rs 5000."At least four studios in the town have recording facilities. Several Telugu-speaking candidates produce the Telugu election songs from Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh to appeal to the Telugu voters.Different political parties like BJP and BJD also bring out cassettes to woo the voters. "Songs are a vital medium of reaching out to the voters. More importantly, songs are devoid of the blame-game common during polls here," said Niranjan Mohanty, one of the samiti member candidates contesting the Balipada panchayat in Kukudakhandi block. Individual candidates have also produced audio cassettes highlighting the problems of their respective panchayats, he said.

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