QUICK TAKES - March 5, 2009

Aiming to spice up its election campaign, India’s ruling Congress party has bought the rights to “Jai Ho,” the Oscar-winning song from “Slumdog Millionaire.”

The world’s largest democracy will hold a general election between April 16 and May 13 in a mammoth logistical exercise in which 714 million people will cast their votes.

Congress leaders said the song, whose title is Hindi for “Let There Be Victory,” will be played during rallies in rural towns, villages and cities. India’s opposition parties described the move as a gimmick.

“This song will ensure their defeat because it will remind every Indian that millions of people still have to stay in slums because of faulty Congress policies,” said Prakash Javdekar, a senior leader in the Bharatiya Janata Party.