As time has grown, the beauty of songs has changed. In the era of social media, when reels as a platform emerged as one of the best areas to showcase things and the dynamics of social problems, political parties used it as a platform to express their opinions and advertisements, from songs to reels. The 2026 Bengal assembly election saw the very beginning of the hyper usage of social media as a campaigning platform. In the 2021 election, TMC member Debangshu Bhattcharya, “Khela hobe”, a slogan cum song, became the trend and in 2026, every political party created and solidified their own identities. TMC raised their voice with the song " Abar Jitbe Bangla " amid ongoing attacks on Bengalis across the country, and BJP raised their campaign, giving them identity with the song “Paltano dorkar”, which means change is needed. The left front also
Though these things are not really new, as over the years Bengali cinema has made songs and cinema that show the system and its flaws.
Let's take a look at the songs that shaped the Bengal election over the years
AMI MLA Fatakeshto- In the year 2006, Mithun Chakrabarty, the superstar of India, acted in a film named MLA Fatakeshto, which was an out-and-out commercial but political movie. The movie showed the flaws of the system. Ami MLA Fatakeshto was the theme song of the movie. In the era of CPIM, this movie also came in the year of the assembly elections of 2006.
Nijeder moto nijeder gaan- Anirban Bhattacharya, the prominent actor of Bengal, with the help of new generation actors and a few veteran actors, created a song protesting against the CAA-NRC. This song was also released in the year of 2021 when Mamata Banerjee, the TMC supremo, came to power for the third time.
Khela Hobe- 2021 election was the year when sloganeering turned into song, the emerging face of Trinamool Congress, Debangshu Bhattacharya, came up with the slogan Khela Hobe and DJ Bulbul from Birbhum created the DJ version of it, which gained massive popularity and became a model for the parties. Political parties massively followed the trend in the 2026 election.
Paltano Dorkar- Following the campaigning strategy of TMC, BJP created a tag line which they used all over the election and created a song named Paltano Dorkar Chai BJP Sarkar. They highlighted the RG Kar rape case and other corruptions of Bengal, relying on which they created their surface in the 2026 Election.
Abar Jitbe Bangla- The TMC supremo, Mamata Banerjee, said the line from a rally, which became the highlight for them. They played on the emotions of the Bengalis who were harmed during the pre-poll season by the alleged goons.
Asche Kalatan- The left front leader, Kalatan Dasgupta, who is fighting from the Panihati constituency against the mother of the RG Kar case’s victim, has gained massive popularity with this song.
The political resistance of Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam laid the foundation for Bengal’s tradition of protest through music. Tagore’s compositions, including Ekla Chalo Re, encouraged individual courage against oppression, while Nazrul’s fiery songs openly challenged colonial rule and social injustice. Their works blended art with ideology, turning music into a form of dissent. Later generations of artists and cultural groups carried this legacy forward, using songs to question authority and mobilize public opinion, ensuring that political expression in Bengal remained deeply rooted in its cultural and artistic consciousness.
