"Music is an omnipresent part of the often so-called great Indian election circus and much more than a mere by-product of what is the greatest democratic exercise worldwide. Songs and tunes are an integral part of political communication, strategically used by political actors which are confronted with an extremely complex and heterogeneous electorate. In the last decades, underlying changes in the media technology and the party system transformed music from a mere vehicle for messages on a regional level to a powerful tool of political advertisement for a nation-wide, professional planed and media based campaign. In course of this study the analysis of both, the historical development of Indian election music and the national election campaigns in 2009, clarify this trend. As part of their media based campaigns the two biggest Indian parties, INC and BJP, used the same song not only to entertain the electorate but – following patterns of brand advertisement – to convey different symbolic messages linked to opposing images of the Indian nation." (Abstract)