By Tirthankar Mitra
With the Bihar Assembly elections campaign gathering momentum, the heat and dust of the canvassing for votes and candidate nomination has thrown up an unexpected element -poetry. And heartbreak is finding expression in verses cutting across the political divide.
And it has little in common with what late US President John Kennedy said after inviting his country’s leading poet Robert Frost at his 1961 inauguration. “If more politicians knew poetry and more poets knew politics, I am convinced that the world would be a better place in which to live” he said.
But politicians in Bihar are mouthing verses left, right and centre though they have not penned them. And their lines are certainly not being triggered by the beauty of a sunset or sea waves breaking upon a shore.
The verses are pouring forth post being peeved by “unjust distribution” of seats which according to them is not in keeping with the expanse of influence or organisational strength. When things get bad, they can always get the verses appear to be the line of thinking of those denied nomination or seat share slashed in Bihar Assembly elections.
Mouthing verses is a binding factor of both the opponents’ camps. If wranglings in Mahagathbandhan saw its leaders quoting poets of yore, the dissidents and deprived in NDA have not been left far behind.
An heartbreak comes amidst a tug of war between the Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) over nomination. Verses are not slow to follow.
A couplet of Rahim found place in X handle of RJD Rajya Sabha MP, Manoj Kumar Jha giving vent to his feelings “Rahiman dhaga prem ka, mat karo chitkai/ Toote se fir na mile, Mile gaanth pad jaye (Don’t tug too hard at the threads of love/Once broken they can’t be fixed, only become knotted). Rahim is a 17th century holy man. And his sayings are much quoted being suitable for all occasions.
The RJD has offered Congress 55 seats while the latter has sought 5 to 6 more. Jha’s lament comes against this backdrop but one is in doubt whether it is his own party or the Congress he is beseeching not to rupture the Mahagathbandhan.
The RJD’s lament in verse has not gone unnoticed by Congress. To do so, Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi picked on lines of poet Abbas Tabish.
“Paani aankh mein bhar kar laya ja sakta hai/ Ab bhi jalta shahr bachaya ja sakta hai (Eyes too can brim with water/ A burning city can still be saved).
This couplet, political analysts feel encapsulates the state of the faction ridden Mahagathbandhan. It can also be music to the ears of the NDA leadership but the ruling alliance has its share of verses.
Seat sharing in NDA did not please one and all. Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLM) leader Upendra Kushwaha’s post in X handle is a case in point.
“Aaj baadlon nein fir saazish ki, jahan mera ghar tha wahi barish ki/Agar falak ko zid hai bijliyan girane, To haame zid hain waha aashiyana banana ki” (Today the clouds again conspired to pour down on my house/ If the sky is determined to have lightning, I am determined to have my home there).
It seems that time the NDA leadership fastened it’s seat belts. There are unseen roadblocks ahead of Bihar’s ruling alliance in the coming days.
Like a soap serial, the verses continue. Congress spokesman Srinivas B V spoke his mind saying “,Shahr mein aag hain, par raakh mein bhi abhi rooh hain/ Kuch log hain jo mahabbat ko zinda rakhe huye hain” (The city is burning, but there is still life in the ashes/ There are people who are keeping alive the embers of love).
The verse will certainly bring cheers to the Mahagathbandhan leadership. After all, it is desperately trying to cobble together a united front against ruling coalition in Bihar.
More cheers for the Mahagathbandhan camp are in as Hindustan Awam Morcha’s leader Jitan Ram Majhi has invoked Mahabharat to express his disgruntlement. Sticking to his demand for 15 seats, Majhi paraphrased poet Ramdhari Singh’s poem Dinkar on Pandava’s demand.
“Do nyay agar to aadha hai/Yadi usmein koi badha hain, de do keval 15 gram, rakho aapni dharti tamam” (Justice should be half- and- half/ But if it is not possible, give me 15 villages and keep the rest). Indeed 15 is a significant number in Majhi’s demand and the couplet he quoted. Pity it has fallen on deaf ears. The political observers are however feeling elated at this battle of verses between the two alliances during Bihar polls. At least, this is a battle of intellect between the contending party leaders- not the usual physical clashes between the rivals for which Bihar politics is known for. (IPA Service)
